Case Dismissed - Please Help

[poorchristina]

My ch7 case was dismissed due to failure to submit payment advices by the deadline. My lawyer will not return phone calls and has pretty much dropped off the face of the earth. What can I do? Please help.

[mike9302]

Report his lazy azz to the state bar and get a refund from him or threaten to sue him if he refuses. He should now handle your case for free if you would even trust him to do it again.

[TEW]

My ch7 case was dismissed due to failure to submit payment advices by the deadline. My lawyer will not return phone calls and has pretty much dropped off the face of the earth. What can I do? Please help.

[jktrading]

My ch7 case was dismissed due to failure to submit payment advices by the deadline. My lawyer will not return phone calls and has pretty much dropped off the face of the earth. What can I do? Please help.

I second a State Bar complaint to get the ball moving.

[Tbornetun]

There had to be a notice of incomplete filing at least a week or so prior to the dismissal.
Did you begin contacting your attorney then? How long has it been since your calls haven't been returned?
I would show up at the attorneys office and try to talk to someone in person.
It is not the other attorney a debtor posted about who they had an initial consultation with and the next day he was arrested for murder? is it? j/k

[Help!]

Our attorney was a real piece of work and routinely dropped the ball. The first indication of his incompetence was a notice of incomplete filing (he didn't pay the fee). I had to babysit him every step of the way. After looking at some of his other cases in PACER, there were quite a few that were dismissed as incomplete, then re-opened. Keep a written record of the times you've contacted him, the messages you've left, etc. I rarely got a call back, so I often just went directly to his office where I couldn't be ignored until I got a response. Since you've already paid the fee, I would suggest a visit to the office. If you still don't get what you paid for, report him. These BK attorneys make me sick to my stomach!

[poorchristina]

ok I finally got ahold of the guy. I have to write a motion for reinstatement and turn it in with a copy of my paystub. Not quite sure how to write it though...

[Tbornetun]

Your attorney should be writing the motion for reinstatement. Why is he making YOU do it. Terrible!! That is what you pay him for.

[justbroke]

ok I finally got ahold of the guy. I have to write a motion for reinstatement and turn it in with a copy of my paystub. Not quite sure how to write it though...

That's absolutely just wrong. You pay the lawyer to file papers with the Court. Is this lawyer a real "BK" lawyer or does s/he do family law and "practice" BK law on the side???

[Tbornetun]

FYI... Just because an attorney practices in many areas of law does not mean that they are not a real bankruptcy attorney or that their handling of a bankruptcy case would be less than par.

[justbroke]

FYI... Just because an attorney practices in many areas of law does not mean that they are not a real bankruptcy attorney or that their handling of a bankruptcy case would be less than par.

I agree, but that's like saying there are brain surgeons who sometime perform heart surgery. Sure, some are good at both.

The key is, the poster stated as a fact that a review of the lawyer's other cases has shown a consistency of problems.

I'm not lawyer bashing, I'm being constructive and informing other readers that shopping for a BK attorney is more than just finding any lawyer who does Bankruptcies. I wouldn't trust my BK in the hands of just any lawyer who practices Bankruptcies. That's because my State does not have any specialization program for Bankruptcy. Perhaps other States do, so it's easy to distinguish.

I would make a similar argument if you were charged with a serious crime, that not just any trial attorney should be utilized, because he has been before a jury before in other criminal cases.

For Bankruptcies, there are those who are good with straight simple Chapter 7s... all the way to those who can handle complex Chapter 11s.

[Tbornetun]

This is why attorneys have "areas" of practice. I would base it on an attorneys experience, do your homework. Some attorneys have quickly jumped over to BK because the demand has increased and they want to pick up the clients to make the money.
Shop around, have a few free consults. Go with who you feel comforable with and answers your questions the best.

[Tbornetun]

If I sounded b!tchy, I didn't mean to.

[justbroke]

If I sounded b!tchy, I didn't mean to.

No worries. Your posting rate is like 10 a second. I thought you were a bot at first. LOL

[danaf]

Dumb ass lawyers like this is exactly why I filed pro se. Who could care more about my bk than me? OP, he dropped the ball, HE NEEDS to fix it. Tell him this and threaten him with a grievance at the state bar or malpractice suit or both if he doesn't. Don't do this via telephone unless you record it (and make sure recording is legal in your state). I'd do it via email and bait him first so as to get the facts of the situation & his confirmation of the facts to your claim on paper (email) BEFORE threatening him. Personally this is what I'd do. Others might not. But if I were where you are now, I'd be pixxed off enough to do this and follow through. And as a back up - if you are a simple no asset ch7, maybe you should start thinking about doing this yourself. It really is not impossible. It just takes time, planning, and studying the way to do it.