Do these fees seem reasonable?

[overit]

Background: I read 2 of the NOLO books, tons on this forum, etc, and decided that being self-employed, wanting to keep my house and car, and as many assets of my business as possible that I felt more comfortable retaining an attorney as opposed to going the pro se route. When I compared the time I would have to take to research, the stress, and the amount of debt that will hopefully be discharged, I decided that attorney fees were a good deal in comparison.

That said, I still don't want to be ripped off, so I want to see what you all think of these fees.

I'm in Indiana, in the Southern District. I have asked this attorney many questions, which he has answered thoroughly. I feel as comfortable with him as I would anyone in this situation.

Are fees of $1,099 plus filing fees within the range of normal based on my circumstances?

[carlsbadmike]

I paid $1500 including filing fees in Missouri.

[daylate]

seems reasonable base don ohio rates. 1200-1500 + fees

[keepsmiling]

less than half of nj

[overit]

Thank you all very much! Your input just gives me another layer of feeling comfortable with my decision.

[PushRestart]

Seems reasonable to me, I paid more but I also picked a lawyer who has done almost 2,000 of these things because I really wanted the best possible representation I could get. My guy also assured me that the fee I paid would cover everything and I would get no additional surprise charges from him ever.

[tcreegan]

Hi overit,

....some advice I posted earlier, still good points to go over when shopping for attorneys

After reading plenty of posts, these seem to be the major sticking points....

Communication: phone/email/face-to-face, secretary/paralegal/attorney, turnaround time on responses
Organizaton/work ethic: dot all i's, cross all t's or 'good enough,' document filed ASAP or 'before the deadline'
Competence: know the local trustees, judges, filed cases like yours, up-to-date on relevant court rulings
Retainer/Fee: exactly what is covered, what is extra, what to expect as 'extra'

Good luck finding a winner!

Tom in Colo