Legalhelpers.com Question if you hired them

[demismom]

When you got your petition to review, did you find that nearly EVERYTHING was wrong?????? OMG, they had the cars wrong, the income wrong (didn't even include mine) and a host of other problems.

I'm not feeling so sure about these guys. I called and asked a question about something and told them how disappointed and surprised I was that there were so many corrections to be made.

I was told "this is just a rough draft". Well, the final draft is usually drawn off the rough draft, is it not?????

[jal1129]

I don't know anything about legal helpers, but if you've been waiting for 2 months to sign the paperwork and now it is wrong I think I would be looking elsewhere. Have you checked pacer to see how many filings this attorney files and looked at the cases for errors and problems etc.? That will give you a clue to what they are like.

If it was me I would be looking elsewhere. Our attorney filled out all of our paperwork while we were sitting in the office, it took less than an hour, we signed right then. It would've been filed that day if I would have been paid up, but it was filed about 3 days later when I paid.

[Hopeless]

Had trouble pasting link to my post (my computer's problem, not this site!), so I decided to copy and paste here for you with regard to part of my experience with them...

Well, I did survive, but thanks to mistakes in the paperwork by the attorney my case has been continued for another month.

The Trustee was pleasant with me but more and more aggravated as I sat there because of the attorney's errors. SEVERAL errors. (Trustee to Attorney, summed up: 'wait, wait. This is wrong. You put this here, that's wrong. Wait. This is missing, what happened here, this is also incorrect, this needs to be amended, you need to get these to me right away...This needs to be continued to May, obviously. I need this and that and the other, you need to amend this and that, and it buys me more time on the clock to object.' All attorney said was pretty much, 'oh, sorry, thought I did, wait, it IS, isn't it...? Oh, sorry...)

As I posted elsewhere on the forum in response to another post, the Trustee had asked maybe 4 questions before he asked, "How did you get yourself into this debt, this situation?" As I stated in my other post related to that question, my attorney said they always ask that in every case he has ever had. (And I had sat in to get ready for my turn at the desk, and he asked that question of every single person.)

So, that part is over, and I am relieved for that and glad it was fairly quick and the Trustee was decent. But certainly dismayed at finding out there were more than a few errors in my paperwork.

I have to get more clarification when I can actually reach my attorney because there was so much legalese it was impossible for me to understand completely what one or two of the errors were actually about. I'll be waiting to hear it in plain English!

The Trustee made it clear he is interested in a few things, so who knows. I have no property, no assets, no NOTHING! (He said, "you don't own a car? How did you get here today?" To which I replied, "my friend sitting right back there took the day off to drive me." Which is true. Yes, sad, but true, I don't even have a vehicle!)

Anyway, it was far from terrible, certainly! No ambush by creditors! And I know even if it had gone perfectly it doesn't mean a thing necessarily because anything and everything can happen after and until all is closed. But I still feel a bit disappointed and concerned about what went on,the errors, being continued to May etc.

Thanks to all here who helped me put one foot in front of the other to walk in there today! You all are the best!

[demismom]

Hi Hopeless - I remember reading that thread and wondering if your attorney was similar to mine. Please tell me you're not in Detroit! LOL

Were you able to review the petition a second time before it was filed - There are soooooo many changes to be corrected, I want to make SURE they were corrected before it bets to the 341 meeting!

[ilovemycaitybug]

Sorry you're having such trouble. I haven't heard of them and haven't read through the rest of the posts so I apologize if this has already been answered, but are they an "online" group of attorneys? Something is so comforting to me about having an "in the flesh" attorney.

[demismom]

caity - while I did find them online, they have flesh and blood attorneys. We're in a part of Michigan, where there are few bk attorney's, heck they had to send us to INDIANA for our first consult. The attorney handling our case is in the Detroit Michigan office and I've spoken with her and her assistant, and they are both VERY nice , VERY professional, but this REALLY threw me for a loop.

[juststupid]

We are using legalhelpers. After we paid thier fee we got a letter a week later saying to call and make an appointment immediately to sign the petition. Not even 2 weeks later we were in the office he took all our papers and prepared the petition while we sat there. Everything was perfect. He double checked everything especially the cars since we just bought a new (used) car in January.

I would think that after so many months that they would have had the time to have everything correct and for there to be no mistakes. Good Luck, I hope everything gets cleared up soon.

[Hopeless]

denismom,

No, over here on the East Coast

The changes were made, documents amended and everything SEEMED to be in order!

Just keep doing what you're doing and staying on top of every detail you can! Double and triplecheck if need be!

[demismom]

Well, I called again this morning and the person I spoke with seemed to care about as much as the person I spoke with last night. I informed them that I want to see the petition again, I mailed back a book practically with all the mistakes they had on there. I even told the lady, it was as though half was my info and half was someone elses.

[manglicmot]

I guess I'm lucky I live in a large metropolitan area, there are a lot of BK attornies here. So I guess it's like any other business, the greater the amount of competition, the better they have to be at their job. If I don't like the attorney I have, I can just go next door to another one. My case isn't filed yet and the only complaint I have is that the pert and pretty little legal assistant who sneezed and blew a string of snot into her hand while she was talking to me. Boy was she embarrased!

[almostthere]

the only complaint I have is that the pert and pretty little legal assistant who sneezed and blew a string of snot into her hand while she was talking to me. Boy was she embarrased!

Ahahahaha~ that's hilarious!

So far, my attorney and his legal assistant have been great. Attorney is a very down to earth person. We ended up chatting about non-bk stuff as well. It's hard to get them on the phone sometimes but they never fail to call back or email soon. Their office is about 10 minutes away so I was able to drop by if they needed a document, or I just needed to ask a question. The fee was very reasonable.

He also seemed to be well recieved by the people at the courthouse as well. This was nice because it took off a lot of pressure at the 341 meeting. I would rather be questioned by a friendly trustee than an angry one.

[SinkingFast]

Sorry you're having such trouble. I haven't heard of them and haven't read through the rest of the posts so I apologize if this has already been answered, but are they an "online" group of attorneys? Something is so comforting to me about having an "in the flesh" attorney.

It's a nationwide "franchise" name and there are affiliated attnys in almost every State.

http://www.legalhelpers.com/

I spoke with one here on the phone. He comes to our town every other Wednesday afternoon/evening.

I decided not to make a face-to-face Consult appt with him because he pressured me for money on the phone.

He said we needed to bring our checkbook with us. HUH??!! That was so different than any other attny's office. Others wanted us to bring docs and such. Some didn't say to bring anything. But this guy wanted us to bring our checkbook??!! I asked why. And he said, "So you can pay your $100 retainer and we can get started working for you."

I had read here, the clock starts ticking when you pay an attny money. That's when you know for sure, for sure you're gonna file. So I asked him about that. He said, "No. Just means you've retained our legal services."

We had several other Consult appts scheduled already and we didn't wanna be pressured about money. So we passed on them.

[CPO]

I've had no issues with my "legalhelpers" attorney. I've met with him twice, paid the retainer then about two weeks later paid-in-full.

Completed documents, provided all my data and I'm waiting for the draft petition. They file electronically here, so he says write all the corrections on the draft PW, there will be errors.

Do to the nature of each individual case, clients know far more about their own situations than the attorneys do.

I have used the 1-800 number twice, received good info once and bad info once. Hey, they are in Chicago and I'm in Texas. I cannot expect them to be expert in the details of Texas real estate law. So, I had to educate myself. When I met my attorney for the second time, he confirmed my discovery. He understands Texas law...no foul for me...

I look upon my attorney as a "legal helper," whom is assisting me in filing my petition...I retain all control. He represents me in court, but he is limited by the facts I give him. If I don't provide him all the facts, I screwed myself.

I could not possibly expect perfection.

Regards,

CPO

[almostthere]

Curious....

How much should one expect to pay for services from legalhelpers.com?
Let's say a straightforward CH. 7 no asset case. Is it different from state to state?

[CPO]

Curious....

How much should one expect to pay for services from legalhelpers.com?
Let's say a straightforward CH. 7 no asset case. Is it different from state to state?

Different from state to state, region to region. "Legalhelpers" is a franchise chain with participating attorneys in each area. The fees look to be reduced from some of the high end attorneys...at least around here, but in the DFW area some charge as much as 3K and as little as 1.2K for a BK7.

Texas is just strange.

Mine is 1.7K, but I'm reaffirming (100% homestead and 4k on a car).

Does not include the filing fee of $299.

Regards,

CPO