How long did your lawyer take

[Juls]

Hi Everyone,
I am wondering how long it took for your lawyer to file your bk once he/she received all of your paper work?

My lawyer received final payment and all of my paper work on July 6, 2009 and had someone from their office call me on July 23 for the final interview.

We still have not signed the paper work and the last time I was able to get a response from them was on August 18by email when they stated that our file is being reviewed by the lawyer.

I sent them an email last week asking for an update and they have not responded so today I left them a phone message asking for an update but they have not returned my call yet.

I am getting frustrated so I think I might need to pop by their office tomorrow.

What are your thoughts?

Thank you,
Juls

[backtoschool]

Hi Everyone,
I am wondering how long it took for your lawyer to file your bk once he/she received all of your paper work?

My lawyer received final payment and all of my paper work on July 6, 2009 and had someone from their office call me on July 23 for the final interview.

We still have not signed the paper work and the last time I was able to get a response from them was on August 18by email when they stated that our file is being reviewed by the lawyer.

I sent them an email last week asking for an update and they have not responded so today I left them a phone message asking for an update but they have not returned my call yet.

I am getting frustrated so I think I might need to pop by their office tomorrow.

What are your thoughts?

Thank you,
Juls

This is WAY too long. They should be able to file electronically. When I finished my interview with my lawyer, she filled out the petition with me there, we went over it together, I read and double checked everything, and she filed it electronically right there and I had a case number and a 341 date before I left her office.

Worst case scenario, it should have only taken a week or so for your lawyer to file.

If they can't even get the petition filed, what are you going to do when you have questions, etc?

[Juls]

Thanks backtoschool,
Thats what I thought we have not even received the petition to sign yet.

I guess I will just have to stop by their office and try to find out what is taking so long.

Juls

[backtoschool]

Thanks backtoschool,
Thats what I thought we have not even received the petition to sign yet.

I guess I will just have to stop by their office and try to find out what is taking so long.

Juls

You still have time to change lawyers. If they have not filed, they will have to refund your money. If they are taking this long, I would be worried that they will not represent you effectively.

[justplaintired]

That is definitely too long. You should be able to have a verbal conversation with the attorney or someone in the office who can tell you what's going on. I spoke with our paralegal alot before we filed. She would return my calls within a day of leaving a message if I called even on hours they were closed. I would call tomorrow and demand to know where they are on filing your case. Don't be bashful, you paid them and they are working for you. Demand to know something by a certain date.

Let us know how things go.

[downsized]

Lets see....we turned in our completed packet that was given to us at a previous visit to his office. They went over it with us and asked us to give them a couple of hours to get it all put in official documents. We went for lunch and returned to go over and sign the filing papers. It was filed and case number assigned that afternoon.

[frmrdwn]

I have never heard of an attorney taking that long. Hopefully, you have time and can take backtoschool's advice. Good luck!

[reno2]

It took my attorney three months and lots of phone calls,voicemails,emails and office visits and short of throwing a fit in their lobby to get my case filed.My 341 is this Friday. wish me luck.

[StartingOver08]

Well, if you turned in all of your paperwork on July 6, 2009 and he has not filed the petition yet and today is 9/3/2009 - you need to update your paperwork because you have had two months of income and possible additional debt since.

Two months to file is too long. If you think your attorney is good, have a face to face chat with him to encourage him to file immediately (bring the two additional months of paperwork with you). If this two month delay is SOP with him, get another attorney.

[lookingforward]

I had the opposite situation. My paperwork was all ready to be filed and they kept calling me about when I wanted to file. I waited until I got served with papers and then until my account was as low as it could get. I think that's way too long for your atty to put you off.

[kenshirley]

We had a full understanding with the attorney about time frames for filing at the first meeting.
I think this is a question that all should ask.
Assuming all paperwork is complete and signed there is little excuse for not filing right away.
The only exception of course is if you needed to "time" your filing for income reasons or cash on hand.

[Juls]

Well, if you turned in all of your paperwork on July 6, 2009 and he has not filed the petition yet and today is 9/3/2009 - you need to update your paperwork because you have had two months of income and possible additional debt since.

Two months to file is too long. If you think your attorney is good, have a face to face chat with him to encourage him to file immediately (bring the two additional months of paperwork with you). If this two month delay is SOP with him, get another attorney.

I already faxed them all updated paper work last week. (they did not ask for it but I knew they would need it).

Their office opens in about a 1/2 hour and I will start calling them again at that time. If I can not get a person on the phone I will drive to their office and see what I can find out.

Thank you all for your input. I figured this is taking to long.

Juls

[frogger]

Way to long. I would probably be looking for a different lawyer unless they have a really good reason.

[imoverit]

I think we have the same lawyer.. Mine did that... took literally 2 months from the time they said "ok we are ready" until they filed. Several unanswered phone calls later, I just went un-announced and sat in their office until someone would talk to me (per advice from this forum ) Lawyer came out and all he said was it will be filed today...and it was (thankfully). My advice is if you keep this lawyer, since you already paid presumably, register for pacer right away and keep tabs on your case that way. My lawyer never filed the debtors ed cert and I started calling and bugging them a couple weeks before discharge to get it done... It took them a month, but if I didn't know I might still be sitting here wondering why my case was dismissed! Good Luck!

[MSbklawyer]

We've been running longer than usual in my office due to a recent spate of 'emergency' filings. If someone comes in and their wages are about to be garnished or the repo man is circling around their house or they're facing an imminent foreclosure, we move them to the front of the line. By filing a bare-bones 'emergency' petition, we can forestall those things and then put them back at the back of the line.

We usually average 3 weeks from the time all the counseling is done and the paperwork is in. But clients have a different definition of "all the paperwork being in" than we do, sometimes.

But 8 weeks does seem a bit long.