Legalhelpers.com Question if you hired them

[almostthere]

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.CPO

I totally agree with this.... I filed seeking assistance through "normal" channels (phone book - appointment - local attorney) and I am extremely happy with my investment so far BUT, ultimately, I feel it's my responsibility to get any information possible and make sure that my information is represented correctly.

In my case, everything cost me shy of 1.2k for a chap 7 including retainer and filing fees. This fee included impecable paperwork, good communication and consultation above and beyond the actual chap 7. In the state I'm in, I guess I made a GOOD choice. However, if I had to cough up 3K for the services I received, I may look at it as more of a luxury and go for alternatives such as legalhelpers. After all, BK is the reason I had to file and money I do not have!!!

[CPO]

P.S. Generally the way they work is this:

You call the 1-800 number and ask for an appointment. That number is the main office in Chicago. They set you up with your local Macey and Aleman attorney.

You go see him. If you like what you see and hear, you CAN retain them with 100 bucks. If you do, they give you a record number and will field your creditor calls if your so inclined.

You then set up an optional payment plan were they can make automatic payments from your active accounts....or, you can do as I did and sign up with 100 bucks but pay in full sometime in the future. I paid in full about two weeks later.

Even if you do the auto pay thing, it can be changed with 72 hours notice per the contract.

They do not proceed on your case until you are paid up, but will provide assistance and advice through the 1-800 number.

You give them your record number when you call, and they document your questions and details of your case in their computers which are accessed by your local attorney.

When your paid up, then you will visit your attorney again, give him the documents listed in your folder provided, and they start your rough draft petition.

Couple of weeks later, they will mail your draft to you for corrections. You correct, either mail or deliver your draft/documents to your attorney, he completes the petition and files at a time most advantageous and agreed upon.

When I paid in full, my attorney gave me his "personal" voice mail number so I could access him directly instead of calling the 1-800 number. He did this because in his experience Texas callers have issues with some advice given by the Chicago office. The law here is that much different.

So, he does this to give his clients better access to him.

I've not had to call him.

Meanwhile, the "legalhelpers" website gives updates on your account which you log into, and a place where your creditors can waste as much time as possible viewing tidbits of data about your case...

Hope this helps...

Regards,

CPO

[almostthere]

Thanks for the info. Looks like the service is a friendly one, but your experience will heavily depend on the actual attorney assigned to your case.

[CPO]

Thanks for the info. Looks like the service is a friendly one, but your experience will heavily depend on the actual attorney assigned to your case.

Absolutely. I make no apologies for idiot attorneys, and you could get one from Macey & Aleman just as easy as anywhere else.

Multiple consults are the best way to go to mitigate problems, and occasionally you will still get a dufus.

That's my experience.

CPO

[juststupid]

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?

In Ohio, a straight forward ch7 case with our attorney cost us $980 + $299 filing fee.

[demismom]

WE paid $1394 total, plus the $299 filing fee for Legal Helpers. WE also own a business, so maybe ours was a bit higher than most?

[desperation]

initially signed up with this firm, but have since decided to retain a smaller firm.

I found Legalhelpers for the most part to be a pretty decent firm, however I was having a crisis one evening (I'm OCD) and spent over 2-1/2 hours on hold in effort to reach an attorney with a question. I'm so OCD I had both the home phone and cell phone dialed in on speaker so I got their hold music in stereo.

No answer..... when I finally got thru the first night I spoke with security who informed me that all the attorneys had left for the day.

I tried the next night and got the same results. I spent this night in tears (stupid?) because my stress is through the roof. I know that most people go through this without a thought (my brother in his second bk comes to mind), but I truly cannot cope with my ignorance on this ...so I'm trying my level best to educate myself on every aspect.

At that point I decided to talk to a local attorney, and cancel my contract with legalhelpers. I've been told that they are overwhelmed with bks in the midwest (high filing districts?) and so it is very hard to get thru.

New attorney is a little more expensive, but they have a payment plan unlike legal helpers who is cheaper,but want it all up front.

Best of luck to you, and I hope this helps

[desperation]

Sorry I think I mis-spoke in my last post when I said most poeple go through this without a thought. What I meant to say was "some" people. My apologies in advance. Hope I haven't offended anyone? I'm surrounded by freinds and family going BK and the advice they give ranges from "you're worrying over nothing" to "don't stress on it".

[demismom]

New attorney is a little more expensive, but they have a payment plan unlike legal helpers who is cheaper,but want it all up front.

Best of luck to you, and I hope this helps

That's NOT true, legal helpers does allow you to make payments, we didn't, but they offered us that option.

[desperation]

Thanks demismom,

Let me clarify. legalhelpers gave me the option of paying them monthly before they filed my case.
With the attorney I have recently retained all I'm required to come up with is the filing fee, and court fee. It may well be that legal helpers has an arrangement like this, but if they do it was never offered or suggested to me.

[demismom]

Well, yeah, Legal Helpers does require payment in full before doing any work, I don't blame them. They're working for people who are broke, I wouldn't trust that either. ;) They just allow you to make payments.

[desperation]

Please understand....I'm not knocking legalhelpers. As I posted previously I'm OCD. I can't make the voice of worry in my head shut up.

For their part I found legal helpers to be a good firm and when I could get through to their attorneys I always got great advice. The key word is when I could get through. I probably would have stuck it out with this firm, but for my experience as I've posted above. I'm physically sick with the stress of this....can't eat, cant sleep, and when this firm put me on hold for over 2 hours I was seriously considering some awful things.

If they worked for you terrific!

I think when you are going through this you have to find an attorney you feel comfortable with, can be honest with, and (in my case) can help put the demons at bay.

[demismom]

Yeah, I hate the waiting on the phone too and when you have a 3 year old talking at you non-stop, it doesn't help!