Attorney's and Attorney Fees

[ksgirl38]

I'm new here and I was wondering what a reasonable amount is for attorney fees. I'm in Kansas, single, no real assets other than my car which I've been advised is secure. I've only seen one attorney so far with consultations with 2 more lined up and the first one quoted me about $1300.

Also, any advise on what to look for in a good attorney. The one I met yesterday was nice enough and informative enough, but still not sure. One was slow to return a call and the other was persistent and very helpful when I spoke to him on the phone and actually returned the call himself rather than his secretary.

[tobee43]

$1300 for a chapter 7 no asset sounds fine...they can run much more.

as far as finding a "good" atty, well, we interviewed 5 of them and we went with the firm we felt would serve us best. it's a personal choice of course. i would go with whom ever you feel most comfortable with. go to a few if not more free consults and see who it is you would feel best with.

and welcome to the forum!!

[HHM]

$1,300 isn't bad, a little on the low end.

some questions to ask
1. Is bankruptcy all you do
2. how many BK's do you file per month.
3. what is the process of how my BK will be prepared (basically, you are paying for a service, so you will want to find out what sort of service you will actually get).

[tobee43]

bad??? this is kanas , not nyc...hhm!!! what does bad mean??

we were quoted 1300-1500 here in florida, it was about the standard going rate.

i agree...make certain you ask the questions hhm has pointed out. it's really important that you're atty really does this for a living. one of our questions was what type of relationships to you have with the trustee's. actually, not an usual question as many of these bk firms actually have trustee's in them.

[DaisysMom]

My attorney charges $975.00 for a single and $1,125.00 for a double, plus the $306.00 for the court costs/filing fees. He also does other types of legal services, wills, divorces, etc. I really liked him at the free consult, he was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions. I asked about his BK experience and he said it was pretty much the largest part of his practice.
I went with him and was glad I did. He was very good and my discharge will be here in a few weeks. I live in Ohio.

So like the others have said, just go to several free consults and you will know who feels right for your circumstances.

DM

[Drazil65]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Our attorney fees were $1200 plus filing fees for a no asset chapter 7. We were quoted between $1,000 and $1750 plus filing fees between all of the consults we did. We asked alot of questions about their experience in the bky field, how long, is this the only thing you do, did they have feel for the system and how it works in that district, will we always deal with you (some bigger firms send whomever is up to bat that day so you may get someone you have never spoke with), can we reach you directly (our attorney always answered our emails within a couple of hours of sending them including the 4 additional questions we asked after our consult before we had choosen anyone). These were important questions for us as we wanted to deal with the attorney 90% of the time so we were very careful about those types of questions. Good Luck!

[ksgirl38]

Thanks for the help. So far all of the lawyers that I've scheduled consultations with specialize in bankruptcies. I was a little unsure what questions I should be asking, but this helps. If $1300 is on the low end then I guess I should be thankful. I have my next consultation on Thursday and it's the lawyer that I'm leaning towards since he seemed most helpful so far. Of course, let's hope that doesn't mean he doesn't have much experience. We'll see.

[Tater]

hi ksgirl,

Welcome to the forum! My husband and I have interviewed five attorneys and chose the last one. We just made the decision last night. Our case is a little more complicated but we've been quoted $975 - $2,500 if we qualify for a Chapter 7. That is without filing fees. The lawyer on the low end gave us a copy of her contract and we discovered a lot of her services are ala carte so to speak. The attorney we finally chose took two hours with us during the free consult and really explained things with us. She even gave us sheets on how the bankruptcy process works in our area. She does bankruptcies and disability cases, main focus on bankruptcies. She described her relationships with our trustees without us even asking and we think she will do the best job for us.

Glad to hear your have some other consults scheduled! Good luck to you!

[hmsmith]

When I was looking for bk lawyers, I checked online for reviews. The particular firm that I chose, had a bunch of 5 star reviews that were all recent---within the last 2 years as recent as last month. In fact they had not one bad review which I thought was great because a lot of people go online when they were unsatisified or unhappy, to let the world know! I then set up a consultation with him and I liked him. My husband was a bit skeptical at first, and said he wasn't sure if he liked him, but after working with him now for awhile my husband agrees, he is a good lawyer, very knowledgeable and is looking out for what is best for us and our situation! We payed $1299 which includes the $300 filing fee w/ the court for a Ch 7 no asset joint filing. I would suggest checking to see if there is any reviews online, but of course once you meet with them, you will know who you like or don't like.

[tobee43]

hmsmith, i certain hear you about those "online" reveiws. but what i find is more common about those reviews is they are either one extreme or another.

so if one as an extemely excellent experience it's a big 5 and if someone has a terrible experience it's a 1-2. usually nothing in between! i know even with some of the doctors we use i look up them on line and see the same thing it's either a 5 or a 1. i think the best way is do it in person. it could be personality, it could be a number of factors that help one chose the atty they feel can help them best. not saying an hour consult is always right, but if you go to enough of them and ask the right questions, it's better than any rating you can find on the net. NOT saying it's not a good place to start to do your local search but i wouldn't bank on those ratings.

[hmsmith]

I agree that you can't count on ratings alone, but if I see several 1 star reviews, that would certainly raise some red flags for me. Now in my case having over 20 recent ALL 5 star reviews and reading their comments in depth, really was great for me & made me feel more comfortable. Not for everyone, not for every case, and certainly not the only deciding factor or even the main factor, but just a suggestion for perhaps something to consider. Anyway, good luck Ksgirl!

[ksgirl38]

hi ksgirl,

Welcome to the forum! My husband and I have interviewed five attorneys and chose the last one. We just made the decision last night. Our case is a little more complicated but we've been quoted $975 - $2,500 if we qualify for a Chapter 7. That is without filing fees. The lawyer on the low end gave us a copy of her contract and we discovered a lot of her services are ala carte so to speak. The attorney we finally chose took two hours with us during the free consult and really explained things with us. She even gave us sheets on how the bankruptcy process works in our area. She does bankruptcies and disability cases, main focus on bankruptcies. She described her relationships with our trustees without us even asking and we think she will do the best job for us.

Glad to hear your have some other consults scheduled! Good luck to you!

Thanks. The guy I'm seeing tomorrow asked me to bring tax forms, paystubs and copies of any bills, etc. I wasn't really expecting anyone to ask for that info yet. Makes me a little nervous because it makes me feel like I've hired him already when I haven't. I think the first guy I saw gave me a price of $1300 and that included everything, court costs and all. The only thing he mentioned that could come up as extra would be a means test. The only thing was the guy seemed a little weird to me.

[ksgirl38]

When I was looking for bk lawyers, I checked online for reviews. The particular firm that I chose, had a bunch of 5 star reviews that were all recent---within the last 2 years as recent as last month. In fact they had not one bad review which I thought was great because a lot of people go online when they were unsatisified or unhappy, to let the world know! I then set up a consultation with him and I liked him. My husband was a bit skeptical at first, and said he wasn't sure if he liked him, but after working with him now for awhile my husband agrees, he is a good lawyer, very knowledgeable and is looking out for what is best for us and our situation! We payed $1299 which includes the $300 filing fee w/ the court for a Ch 7 no asset joint filing. I would suggest checking to see if there is any reviews online, but of course once you meet with them, you will know who you like or don't like.

Thanks, but that's the first thing I did. Sadly I didn't find much. Not sure if it's my area or what, but I just didn't find many reviews. I did find a couple, but not all of them offered free consultations.

[ksgirl38]

hmsmith, i certain hear you about those "online" reveiws. but what i find is more common about those reviews is they are either one extreme or another.

so if one as an extemely excellent experience it's a big 5 and if someone has a terrible experience it's a 1-2. usually nothing in between! i know even with some of the doctors we use i look up them on line and see the same thing it's either a 5 or a 1. i think the best way is do it in person. it could be personality, it could be a number of factors that help one chose the atty they feel can help them best. not saying an hour consult is always right, but if you go to enough of them and ask the right questions, it's better than any rating you can find on the net. NOT saying it's not a good place to start to do your local search but i wouldn't bank on those ratings.

I always have to wonder if those 5 star reviews are planted by the people themselves. I'm convinced my apartment complex does that.

[ValleYum]

ks? Did you check at Avvo.com for peer reviews on your attorney? Customers can leave reviews there, too.