Attorney's Fees

[howdidithappen]

What do attorney's fees run for a Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 filing? I just heard from someone that the attorney they saw in NJ (south) charged $3500!??!?!

[reallynervous]

We are in PA.

Ch 7: $1500 Ch 13: $3500

+ pre & post filing education fees

+ filing fees

This was starting price, and would be higher for more challenging issues such as self-employment and other things

HTH,
reallynervous

[CA3kids]

Paperwork I got from attorney (CA) states all amounts that *could be* charged for a chapter 13 - he says these are set by the courts - I assume by district but not sure. Court fee of 274, credit counseling fee, debtor education fees are extra.

Basic case 2750
use of long plan 300
cases with real property claims 850
additional pieces of real property (each) 500
Cases with stae or federal tax claims 700
cases with vehicle loans or leases 700
cases with support arrears 800
cases with student loans 300
cases with an operating business 1500
cases with 25+ creditors/collectors 300
motion to extend/create stay required 450

Then "in the following situations the attorney may apply to the court for the additional fees shown below which shall be approved upon application:"

lists different modifications, permission to sell, refinacne, or purchase real property, etc. a bunch of other things.... if you want them I'll post them too. But it looks like they are charges that *could* be asked for, and if the attorney does, the court approves them, from the way I read this.

The statement also says that attorney can petition to the court for more funds if the "above fees ... are not sufficient to compensate the attorney for the legal services rendered and costs incurred in the case..."

I assume all districts have a similar schedule of allowable expenses which would explain the different amount of fees charged to different people on this forum.

Not a lawyer, but I've read a lot of legal cases as a former legal proofreader.

Reading this in detail explains why our lawyer kept repeating to my husband, as we filled out Schedule J, "Now, you aren't currently operating your business, right?" - he could have charged us more if he wanted. We got a great attorney.

Before you decide on a lawyer, take those 3-4 consultations and get a listing of fees!

[SinkingFast]

You can check your Court's home page. Look in the Local Rules, I think it is. Or maybe check in the Announcements. Maximum fees attnys can charge are set by the Court.

If your case is complicated, you'll pay more. If you have a straightforward easy case, you'll pay less.

[LisaM]

I live in South Carolina. My husband & I filed Chapter 7. We paid our attorney $1300, which included court costs. There was an additional total of $50 for the required credit counseling that we did online.

[follie]

I had signed up for the legal plan through my work, so I only had to pay the filing fees and the credit counseling fees. If you have this benefit available, I highly recommend it!!

[SinkingFast]

We were under the Median and basically a fairly straightforward, No Asset Ch 7.

BUT with New Law, and the 2 year residency restriction, and having to use outa State Exemptions, many attnys were less than comfortable taking us in as a Ch 7. All but 2 were pushing us Ch 13.

Our attny was expensive. While the others were asking $700-$1K for a Ch 7, they were pushing us toward their $2500 Ch 13 plans. Our attny charged us $2K, plus filing fee, plus pre and post BK Certs fees. $2399 all together for our Ch 7.

[Liaah]

Our attorney is asking for $1500 for a Chapter 7. We do have assets, so I don't know if that will make our case any harder or not for our attorney. Probably not, just take it longer to close. Plus we must pay our pre and post bankruptcy cert. and filing fee. Not sure of the total yet. Probably close to $2000.

We are filing in Indiana.

[HHM]

To clarify the issue about the "court setting attorney fees" in a chapter 13, that is not quite accurate. What the court does is set a maximum amount the attorney can charge for a chapter 13 without the attorney going before the judge on a Motion for Fee Request. Certain admin fees are set, i.e. Court Filing Fee, Credit Counseling, and Debtor Education are all set fees.

Most Chapter 13's, no matter where you are in the country will cost between $3,000-$4,900, all said and done.

However, the court does not set an explicit maximum for Chapter 7's, the "market place" tends to determine the fees for a chapter 7. When you factor in the filing fee, credit counseling and debtor eduction, most chapter 7's will start at $1,200 and go up from there depending on the complexity of the case. Also, keep in mind, you should not pick a lawyer on price alone and you should interview at least 3 different attorney's. When it comes to BK, more often than not, you do get what you pay for...thus, if you go with the cheapest attorney, you are going to get the least service.

[howdidithappen]

Thanks!

I couldn't find fee information on the Courts website.

[HHM]

I couldn't find fee information on the Courts website.

And you may not...what you are looking for is the Chapter 13 Trustee Guidelines and that document may or may not be readily available on the Internet for your district. If your uncomfortable with the fee quote, go visit other attorney's. If the other attorney's quote you similar fees, then you can be fairly confident that what you were quoted is the going rate for a chapter 13 in your area.

Also, keep in mine, in a chapter 13, most of that fee (60%-80%) gets paid through the chapter 13 repayment plan.