Is it true if your lawyer tells you...

[secondchance]

That if you don't file in 2 weeks your case disappears...because I went almost 2 weeks ago but I didn't want to file then because I needed more time to get a car...so she told me if i don't come back it will stay on my report and i won't be able to file again...I didn't actually file and I don't remember filling out any paperwork beyond consent forms

[ValleYum]

Did you give her any money?

[secondchance]

Yeah I paid half of the fee

[HHM]

Not enough information...and I am thinking there is something being lost in translation between what your lawyer is telling you and what you are relaying to us.

[despritfreya]

I think what she is referring to is if you file a "skeletal" petition. Once you file the petition and credit counseling certificate you have 5 days to file a master mailing list and 14 days to file the balance of your schedules and statements. If you miss the deadlines the case is dismissed but the fact that you filed a bk will be correctly reported.

While they tend to be a sometimes necessary evil, most of us (including me) do not like to do "fast filings" as the client tends not to follow through with supplying the necessary info to finish everything within that 2 week period. We will do them but give stern warnings to the client that they must fulfill their obligations to get the info in very, very quickly.

Des.

[HHM]

I think what she is referring to is if you file a "skeletal" petition. Once you file the petition and credit counseling certificate you have 5 days to file a master mailing list and 14 days to file the balance of your schedules and statements. If you miss the deadlines the case is dismissed but the fact that you filed a bk will be correctly reported.

While they tend to be a sometimes necessary evil, most of us (including me) do not like to do "fast filings" as the client tends not to follow through with supplying the necessary info to finish everything within that 2 week period. We will do them but give stern warnings to the client that they must fulfill their obligations to get the info in very, very quickly.

Des.

Good catch, sounds like an emergency petition may have been filed around the time you went in and paid half and now you have 2 weeks to complete it. Interesting business model, $X fees up front, file emergency petition, then get balance in 2 weeks or case goes away, no sweat

But Desp is right, most attorneys won't do emergency petitions because of the high risk of it being dismissed.

[hopeforus]

I was gonna say... we paid our lawyer in full a year ago and still haven't filed. lol

[AngelinaCat]

It may also be called an "Emergency Petition". When that happens, the debtor has 15 calendar days to get the rest of the material in, or else. For us, we filed on Dec 28, 2007, a Friday, right before the long New Years weekend, so we lost several days because of the holiday. Fortunately, WE were ready; the attorney wasn't and we had several things that would happen on Jan. 1, that made this filing necessary.

[outofdebt201]

My understanding is that the lawyer will not fully file your case until you PAY IN FULL. Other wise they debt you owe the lawyer could be part of the BK. Then the lawyer wouldn't get paid. So they want to be paid in full.

[HHM]

My understanding is that the lawyer will not fully file your case until you PAY IN FULL. Other wise they debt you owe the lawyer could be part of the BK. Then the lawyer wouldn't get paid. So they want to be paid in full.

That is true, to a point. However, as it sounds like in this case, the attorney can get paid for the work to prepare an emergency petition and "file" the case. No debt owed to the attorney, the attorney has been paid for work performed. However, the attorney needs to make crystal clear that any work done AFTER the case is filed is extra and the client will be billed since it is post petition work. It is not a common model for attorneys because it puts both the attorney and client in a high risk position related to a bankruptcy.