Attorney Out--Pro Se In, What to do now?

[ldsmedia]

I just wanted to chime in and say even though I don't know enough to tell you any thing, I wanted to offer my sympathies and prayers. I am looking for an attorney for chapter 7 right now and am scared to death. Don't forget we live in in a buyer beware society and unfortunately have very few protections from product or service negligence. I believe the answer is for us all to protest these unfair laws by lobbying congress.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Greetings all. Thank you for all the support. Here are some events to back what we did and what we are going to do: First, we left our Attorney under ‘so called’ good terms, as a “MUTUAL AGREEMENT” in that when we called the Trustee’s Attorney about the letter for settlement on the day it was due, she (the secretary) said “Well that is a very good lawyer you have, I don’t understand your problems with her”. That tips me off that some things may have gone on “BEHIND” the scenes. You know, they are like “golfing buddies”, so she may have cut us a deal, so we do not want to have her sabotage us. We made an agreement acceptance with two caveats and one was that wait for full payment after the first of the year when I would get my retirement annuity, and I will pay in full however reconsider the payment to our god-daughter as she in basically that as a loving title and not related to us at all. She is 41 years old but has helped us a lot. He is calling her a preferential debt.

I made a motion to the court as myself and will copy and edit it in the next post coming. Please feel free to give me any views on it. I emailed my letter with hard copy following after calling his office as well as a copy to my ex-lawyer, and Trustee. Everybody also got copies of my motion. They seem to be working with us for as many mistakes as we have made. You name ‘em and since BKforum, we did ‘em. We are learning well thanks to you all. ‘Hub

[AngelinaCatHub]

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION

In re: ) Case No. 3:07-bk-XXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXand ) Chapter 7
XXXXXXXXXX,
)
Debtors.
)

MOTION TO DISCHARGE COUNSEL
AND PROCEED PRO SE


Debtors XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXX, move this Court to allow discharge of our present attorney and proceed ‘pro se’ effective as of June 18, 2008.

1. This action is amiable as well as mutually in agreement between debtors and their Attorney.
2. Debtors will represent themselves unless they or an attorney, notify the Court otherwise.
3. All court papers may be mailed to debtors by first class mail at XXX. XXXXXXXX, Florida XXXXX.
4. Debtors representing themselves, understand that it is their responsibility to:

Notify the Court in writing of any changes in their address or telephone numbers;

send copies of any papers they file with the court to the other party/s involved in this case.

Debtors:


_______________________
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX pro se


_______________________
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXpro se
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX, FL XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX

Certificate of Service

I certify that a copy of the foregoing was furnished by U.S. Mail to XXXXXX, Law Office of XXXXXXXX, Post Office Box xxxxxxx Gainesville, FL 32635; XXXXXXXXXX, Trustee, P.O. Boxxxxx, Jacksonville,
FL 32201-4218; and Mr. XXXXXXXXX, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxx, Jacksonville, FL 32202.


Debtors:


_______________________
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXpro se


_______________________
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXpro se
XXXXXXX1
XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX

[AngelinaCat]

I just wanted to chime in and say even though I don't know enough to tell you any thing, I wanted to offer my sympathies and prayers. I am looking for an attorney for chapter 7 right now and am scared to death. Don't forget we live in in a buyer beware society and unfortunately have very few protections from product or service negligence. I believe the answer is for us all to protest these unfair laws by lobbying congress.

Hi Idsmedia: Thank you for your prayers and support. These mean a lot to us. Also, welcome to this Forum.

Since you are new here and are worried and trying to find an attorney, my best advice is to go to nolopress.com, and purchase their BK Ch7 book. You can buy an online version, that costs almost half of what the bookstore price is. It comes in PDF format and can be read by Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded free. The only drawback to buying the online version is that in order to carry it elsewhere with you, you have to print it out yourself, and may not be a savings in the long run as you factor in ink, toner, and paper. However, I just checked their site, and see that the print version is also the price of the ebook edition. It's well worth one more use of the credit card.....

Good luck and prayers go to you in your journey through the BK process.

[Old Codger]

Considering your experience and mine AND other people I've talked to I think the whole system is corrupt. I can hardly wait till they take over health care.

[AngelinaCatHub]

You know, I think I posted two replys to the wrong thread that were supposed to be here. I may have had two browsers open and hit the wrong one. I want advice on how we handled our lawyer fireing. Two comming up. 'Hub OOOOPS, I stand corrected we wentover to a new page. Nevermind.

[AngelinaCat]

Hi All:

Here is the latest entry in the ongoing ‘Cat Household’ Soap Opera:

We got a telephone call from the ex-attorney’s office assistant around 4:00 PM yesterday. By now, all parties involved should have gotten at least the emails we broadcast last Wednesday, June 18, followed by the snail mail pieces.

It seems that the Trustee’s Examiner had gotten his, and called the office of our ex-attorney, to see what this was about. Apparently, the Examiner is willing to give an extension of time, because of the attorney being on vacation. That being said, my “Motion to Dismiss Counsel and Proceed Pro Se” was not at all posted on PACER. I really do believe the ‘inner sanctum’ of the lawyers club may be working in our favor.

In that we got the letter on the very last day, the lawyer's assistant told of the Trustee’s Examiner extending time to talk about this added time after she gets off vacation. I believe we will get some free lawyer time as I think her actions have been admitted in error, and that our “IGNORANCE’ of this stuff was turned over to a professional who should have guided us better. So you do not always do you get bad Trustees. I think they are working with us in our situation. I hope we are correct. ‘Hub and Ms.Cat

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Wow! I am so glad they got back to you so quickly.

Still and all, your Motion should be posted to PACER within the next three days; when you file by paper in person it's not instantaneous, like it is when your atty files electronically. Given that the atty/client relationship had already ended by the time you filed your motion, I think the timing is all working out very well. And I *loved* your motion!!!

I wish you every success, and really hope it starts getting better soon!

[AngelinaCat]

Hi Ms. Daisy: We got the green card back that the court had received our Motion on June 25. We just checked PACER, and it is up there..... So..... we will see how THIS move plays out.....

And I don't even know how to play Chess......

[momof5]

I think Trustees are just regular people who probably know better than most that there are some really bad lawyers out there. If you figure how many they see and deal with on a day to day basis. I think you have found yourself a good one there(trustee) and I think that the lawyer in him must be feeling for you right now. They certainly know that the average person hires an attorney because they really need their professional help. When someone doesnt get that other lawyers would be the first to see it.
I really felt the Trustee was looking out for us at our 341 after the attorney 'stand in' spurted something out of her mouth that would have made even the worst creditor seem saintly.

[AngelinaCatHub]

[AngelinaCat]

Hi All:

The latest, when we checked PACER this weekend, is that our Motion has (I guess) triggered an automatic Hearing, scheduled for August 6. That means I have to take that evening off, as the Hearing is scheduled for the afternoon, and there is no way we will be back home in time for me to get to work. Oh well... like we don't need the money...

Anyway, I would have thought this would be an automatic thing. Can't we discharge our attorney without this? Or should we have just posted a NOTICE of some sort indicating our change of status?

Any thoughts? It seems like we are sailing in uncharted waters...

Thanks

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Hey, I've been offline for a few days, so maybe you've already gotten your answer somewhere else, but if you haven't then check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney_of_record. Basically, your motion is the equivalent of compelling an involuntary withdrawal; the judge will sign off on it that you are pro se.

Actually, I think this is a very good thing. Normally (heh ) you would not have to go through all these gyrations; because your motion requires a hearing, your ex-atty's abandonment of you will now be a matter of public record. Not that you want to bash her, but from that point forward, you can point to the hearing itself as anecdotal proof that your ex-atty was not actually doing anything for you, should it ever be required.

I hope it's all going better for you now!!!

[AngelinaCatHub]

Ms. Daisy and All: Here is the latest in our saga. The Trustee’s investigative lawyer called us. He stated he could not get hold of our Lawyer (surprise, surprise). I told him that is what our problem has been from day one. He immediately stopped me and stated he would not talk personalities (showing the “club” of golfers, so to speak). He stated in the fact that I am still represented, did I wish to ask him to talk to me directly? I said that I would. He said, under the circumstances, he would grant further time on the offer of settlement.

He explained that the person we questioned as being an insider because she was not related to us, would in fact be considered an “insider” because she was a ‘friend’. He said we could fight this in Court, however a good friend is also an insider. I said to him, “Okay, under your explanation, we are in agreement and wish to close this issue as painlessly as possible”. He said several times, “I note you have no money” and that WAS SEVERAL TIMES.

I said in my letter I accepted his offer with two conditions, (one being what I just stated about g-daughter as insider) and the other is could he write paper to agree to take the settlement after the first of the year before Feb 1, 2009. He said, “I have your letter; are you saying that you would be able to pay by FEBRUARY 15, 2009 a lump sum???” I said yes, I could as a retirement annuity is dispensed after January 1. He said, “I will talk with the Trustee and I think he will agree and I shall write up a document for both of you to sign, but your attorney must also sign as you are still officially represented.” We said “by all means”.

It means we, for selling our Mortgage Deed for 10K, get to pay 20K in capital gains, the loan paid back to my g-daughter, and the penalty of “Inside dealing” to a relative or favored person. NO WONDER THIS HERE SUPER BUSINESS GURU IS IN C7!!!!!!!!!! Gawd, I’m smurt! Can’t spell nun to gud either.

Anyway, so far, we have not been chastised by a UST (yet), and they are working with us to right things. Thanks all. Hope this helps someone else as foolish as we were. ‘Hub

[Help!]

It must be nice to finally know where you stand! Now that you can communicate with the trustee (or their representative) without needing a seance to track down Casper the friendly lawyer, maybe things will get moving.