Feel like we are betraying our attorney

[zpbk13]

I know it's silly but dh and I have an appointment Saturday to meet with another attorney and I feel guilty. The first lawyer we met with was highly recommended by a family member that used their firm and we were all set to go with them but a couple little things have been bothering me and before I send in the $850 retainer required to file, I just want to be absolutely sure we have the best representation.

First, we did not receive the retainer agreement in the mail (turns out they did not have our complete address); second, its hard to get a return call from her but okay we are technically not clients so I understand that. Hey, I work for a law firm and understand the mechanics of an attorney's time being money. Third, it's a "ma and pa" type firm and I think it's just the two of them so I have some concerns about things falling through the cracks and if you can't even get us the retainer agreement, what else could possibly go wrong because you have no clerical assistance. And then finally, the attorney agrees to send me the retainer by email and has to decided which of her numerous email addresses to give me. Hmmm. Again, not a big deal but I would think you'd have a specific business email address.

I know these things in and of themselves seem petty but they all add up to me having feelings of misgiving. You all say that a person should at least talk to two or three attorneys before deciding representation and that has been on my mind lately. We have a consultation with an attorney on Saturday and he asked us to bring our most recent pay stubs so he could see if we qualify for a 13 or 7. The first attorney automatically wanted us in a 13 without any financial documentation and when I told her we at least wanted to see if we qualified for the 7 she kind of dismissed me and the retainer she sent said she's representing us in a 13. Sigh.

Anyway, just wanted to get some opinions from those that have been down this road. Should we just stick with the first attorney or at least compare and see what a second lawyer (who by the way claims a 100% confirmation record for chapter 13s)? Any advice is appreciated and welcome! Thanks.

[StartingOver08]

You are doing the right thing by checking out other attorneys.

There are several people that retained their first attorney without checking out their options and have had an extremely difficult BK - some have even been dismissed, or filed very late or had a boat load of communication problems.

The red flag that jumps out is the fact that this firm does not have any clerical help - BK is a lot of paperwork and deadlines. When the attorney is working on someone else's file, who is there to follow up with your deadlines and paperwork to be submitted to the Trustee? BK certainly needs a good attorney, but without good clerical help it is like a car with two wheels - not very efficient.

[zpbk13]

StartingOver - thank you so much for confirming what I was thinking! How efficient can your office be if you do not have proper clerical help? A secretary would have caught the errors in our address. How do I know? Because I'm a legal secretary and it jumped out at me first thing. We will see what the new lawyer has to say on Saturday.

[catleg]

I agree with the above. A lot of attorneys are known to get into BK work by just hiring a knowledgeable paralegal. These guys seem to take the opposite tack, and StartingOver's right, this is largely a clerical exercise. Take you time, nothing much changes overnight in BK scenarios.