Okay, so here are my observations regarding my 341 today:
First off, we got there early. I mean early. I mean WAY early. The court wasn't even open yet. Our meeting was at 11:00, we got there at 8:30.
Eventually the security guard showed up and opened the room at 9:00, and we waited an hour for the first cases to start at 10:00. For some reason I thought there were 9:00 o'clock cases. The good part was, we got to watch the first round of Chapter 7s. The trustee was an older gentleman, and was very nice. I only heard him sound a bit miffed a time or two. Many people were only asked the same basic questions, a few were questioned more in depth. Those questions mostly centered around tax refunds, property transferred between family members, and purchase dates and market value of homes or rentals.
The attorneys were a pretty mixed bag. Some seemed on the ball, but the trustee had to ask many attys for additional documentation (deeds of trust, tax returns, etc.). Maybe it is just me, but I was shocked at the dress code of the attorneys. Yes, about 50% wore suits, but the rest wore shirts and dress slacks, blazers and dress slacks, one female atty wore a long sweater over her slacks .. didn't even realize she was an atty. One atty wore a shirt that was wrinkled. I appreciated the fact that my attorney looked like he took my fee and bought his attire
! He wore a nice blue suit, pink pin stripe shirt, and a pink paisley tie. Quite the Beau Brummell. Some attys looked quite young, one even looked a heck of a lot like a Kewpie Doll.
Now as to the demeanor of the attorneys. The atty chair was a swivel-tilt office chair. A few of the attorneys seemed a bit too relaxed, one even kicked back in the chair like he was watching a football game at home when it was his turn with his clients. One atty dropped (loudly) each of his three folders to the floor as he finished with each client. Most of the attys had to fumble with paperwork when a question was asked of the client. One atty responded with "I think so" to the questions asked, or "As far as I know". Several did not respond "Yes, sir", but simply "Yes", as did their clients. I thought we were supposed to show a modicum of respect for the court? And this IS the South, where "yes sir" is de rigueur.
The docket showed us our place in the schedule, which I didn't realize beforehand. Our group, the 11:00 o'clocks, didn't get started until 11:30, but we were done by noon. There was a couple with a baby, and he said he would take them first. While I am wondering where I can get a baby on short notice, the trustee realizes they are Pro Se, and says, "No you will have to wait." One woman is not there when she is called. She shows up 20 minutes into the meeting, and her atty says "my client is here", but the trustee put her off until the end, I guess, lol. The person who drove the trustee batty was a guy who had two parcels of land in CA. He did not know the street names of the addresses, and the trustee had to ask him several times to verify what properties he had and where they were. His atty was no help. Many attys were told, "I sent you an email yesterday about this". Many attys were asked to send in items after the fact. These items were all things we had supplied our atty with, and I wasn't sure if the other attys hadn't requested them from their clients beforehand. Our atty had no problems with any of his clients.
Our atty had six cases. He ushered us all out of the courtroom and into a small antechamber. There, he went over how the proceeding was going to go, from start to finish. He was the only atty to do this. He asked if we had questions, and said he would be available afterwards for questions. He said the trustee was the only trustee who was not an attorney. Nope, our trustee was a CPA. Not just a CPA, but a FORENSIC CPA. In other words, our trustee spent his non-trustee time digging into financial records to find problems. GULP! Oh, joy. But not to worry, our atty said, because the trustee was a personal friend of our atty for many years, in fact he was his CPA! He knew exactly what he would be looking for and that know of us should have any problems. And we didn't.
If I had to choose an atty again, and I went to this 341, I would have chosen my atty hands down, no question. I highly recommend posters attend a few 341s and get a feel for the attys. How does he handle himself in court, and how do the clients seem? My atty was not expensive, only $1600. But I felt like I was represented buy a $5000 atty! I was braced for a grilling about our rental properties, cars recently sold, money in bank account, schedule J ...
let me at 'em, I'm ready. Nope, nothin', nada, zip. Just the standard questions. So happy it is over, and really happy with my atty choice. Which is good, since I have become friends with another poster on here in my area, and referred them to him, lol. Now I don't have to worry about that!
First off, we got there early. I mean early. I mean WAY early. The court wasn't even open yet. Our meeting was at 11:00, we got there at 8:30.
Eventually the security guard showed up and opened the room at 9:00, and we waited an hour for the first cases to start at 10:00. For some reason I thought there were 9:00 o'clock cases. The good part was, we got to watch the first round of Chapter 7s. The trustee was an older gentleman, and was very nice. I only heard him sound a bit miffed a time or two. Many people were only asked the same basic questions, a few were questioned more in depth. Those questions mostly centered around tax refunds, property transferred between family members, and purchase dates and market value of homes or rentals.The attorneys were a pretty mixed bag. Some seemed on the ball, but the trustee had to ask many attys for additional documentation (deeds of trust, tax returns, etc.). Maybe it is just me, but I was shocked at the dress code of the attorneys. Yes, about 50% wore suits, but the rest wore shirts and dress slacks, blazers and dress slacks, one female atty wore a long sweater over her slacks .. didn't even realize she was an atty. One atty wore a shirt that was wrinkled. I appreciated the fact that my attorney looked like he took my fee and bought his attire
! He wore a nice blue suit, pink pin stripe shirt, and a pink paisley tie. Quite the Beau Brummell. Some attys looked quite young, one even looked a heck of a lot like a Kewpie Doll.Now as to the demeanor of the attorneys. The atty chair was a swivel-tilt office chair. A few of the attorneys seemed a bit too relaxed, one even kicked back in the chair like he was watching a football game at home when it was his turn with his clients. One atty dropped (loudly) each of his three folders to the floor as he finished with each client. Most of the attys had to fumble with paperwork when a question was asked of the client. One atty responded with "I think so" to the questions asked, or "As far as I know". Several did not respond "Yes, sir", but simply "Yes", as did their clients. I thought we were supposed to show a modicum of respect for the court? And this IS the South, where "yes sir" is de rigueur.
The docket showed us our place in the schedule, which I didn't realize beforehand. Our group, the 11:00 o'clocks, didn't get started until 11:30, but we were done by noon. There was a couple with a baby, and he said he would take them first. While I am wondering where I can get a baby on short notice, the trustee realizes they are Pro Se, and says, "No you will have to wait." One woman is not there when she is called. She shows up 20 minutes into the meeting, and her atty says "my client is here", but the trustee put her off until the end, I guess, lol. The person who drove the trustee batty was a guy who had two parcels of land in CA. He did not know the street names of the addresses, and the trustee had to ask him several times to verify what properties he had and where they were. His atty was no help. Many attys were told, "I sent you an email yesterday about this". Many attys were asked to send in items after the fact. These items were all things we had supplied our atty with, and I wasn't sure if the other attys hadn't requested them from their clients beforehand. Our atty had no problems with any of his clients.
Our atty had six cases. He ushered us all out of the courtroom and into a small antechamber. There, he went over how the proceeding was going to go, from start to finish. He was the only atty to do this. He asked if we had questions, and said he would be available afterwards for questions. He said the trustee was the only trustee who was not an attorney. Nope, our trustee was a CPA. Not just a CPA, but a FORENSIC CPA. In other words, our trustee spent his non-trustee time digging into financial records to find problems. GULP! Oh, joy. But not to worry, our atty said, because the trustee was a personal friend of our atty for many years, in fact he was his CPA! He knew exactly what he would be looking for and that know of us should have any problems. And we didn't.
If I had to choose an atty again, and I went to this 341, I would have chosen my atty hands down, no question. I highly recommend posters attend a few 341s and get a feel for the attys. How does he handle himself in court, and how do the clients seem? My atty was not expensive, only $1600. But I felt like I was represented buy a $5000 atty! I was braced for a grilling about our rental properties, cars recently sold, money in bank account, schedule J ...
let me at 'em, I'm ready. Nope, nothin', nada, zip. Just the standard questions. So happy it is over, and really happy with my atty choice. Which is good, since I have become friends with another poster on here in my area, and referred them to him, lol. Now I don't have to worry about that!
MAKE SURE AND VISIT Tobee's Blogs! 
. It is pretty sad to think I am in bankruptcy and doing better (emotionally and financially) than many I know.
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