attorney didn't show up to 341!!!

[dizze98765]

Hi everyone, I've been browsing on here for a while, but never post. I want opinions or to see if anyone has been through this. I am honestly only 23 and was scared to death at my 341 today, partially because i had to drive 1 1/2 hours to get there and had no idea where I was going. My letter from the attorney's office sent me to the wrong floor and I finally got to the right place 15 minutes before my meeting to meet up with my attorney and they never showed. The trustee was very nice and pushed me to the back of the time slot, but I am SO mad. I ended up having to waive my right to have my attorney present instead of getting a continuance since I didn't think I could go through all of that again. I paid the attorneys $650 before filing fees even and they couldn't even show up. I called the office today, but it's a large chain and was the main office and not even the indianapolis office, but he apologized profusely and said that he would pass the info along to my local office and have them get in touch with me. I personally think that I deserve part of the money I paid them back since coming to the meeting was part of the services I paid them for. Has anyone had this happen or can you give me advice as to what you would do? Thank alot. Danielle
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[sassy]

What does the contract you have with the attorney say? Did the fee include his agreement to attend the meeting? If so and you have a problem as a result of the attorney's failure to show up, you likely have an real issue with the attorney and might get money back and have the right to file a complaint with the bar. If everything went okay with the 341 meeting, you might use the failure to show to negotiate for a partial refund.

Let us know how it goes and good luck.

[bkfiler]

bar complaint. period. use to your advantage.

their time is $300 per hour and THAT is why you pay them so damn much to start with just to have you fill out all the paperwork and then have their office worker typist type it in.

ask for $300 back and explain that if any problems ensue that you will report him to the bar. dont beleive me? call the office or have a friend call and ask how much they charge per hour to consult with? its even more when they have to go to court.

also, if possible ask to have a different attorney assigned to the case right away. this will show in the future that you have no trust in this attorney.

you have to take protective action to perserve your rights if needed for a future problem.

just some things to think about depending if you are completely unhappy with this situation. if you are just 'kinda' unhappy then back off these ideas a bit. scale them to fit your need.

i would absolutley ask for a refend no questions about it. he wasnt there and didnt help as required. why should you pay him for that. office typers get less then $15 ahour if they are lucky and all they did is type what you already wrote for them. so there goes $100 out of the total, plus $200 of his time (maybe) to review it and talk with you. dont forget initial meeting by law is free.

on the flip side, remeber you have to make this work for you and keep your eye on the point - getting discharged. doing some of these things may hamper that althought im not sure what now because 341 is over lol.

ok work with it and good luck! what he did was wrong and they know it.

[Genenco]

I fully agree with bkfiler..Slam the SOB into the wall, demand the refund and if none is forth coming, get the bar complaint running.

If he does it to you, he'll possibly do it to someone else.

[aoccc]

i sat threw two hours of 341's and noticed the only thing that the attorneys did was read things off of the bankruptcy papers which anyone could do. Probably could have been ok doing the meeting yourself even though its scary. Definately ask for money back

[CRRAVOSA]

Cannot believe this one, the main reason you hire an attorney is for the legal advice and representation. An attorney could get into serious trouble for not showing up if he/she is retained. If I was in your situation I would call the attorney up and ask why, if your attorney does not respond or ignores you or does not refund you about $200 or more I would file a complaint with the attorney liscencing agency in your state. Even if he or refunds you, you still can do that, it is really unfair to go into a 341 thinking you have representation and the atty is a no show. Bad Attorney!!!

[bkfiler]

i just want to caution you that you do need to keep the end goal in sight. you can always file a complaint latter after dishcarge. so maybe consider not saying this until its done. thats what i would do.

i would however write a letter today asking for a $300 refund since you were not represented by attorney. no need to really say much more. just be kind and keep saying the same thing over... hehe

let them do as they want. its not gonna kill ya. then if they dont do what YOU wanted then file a bar complaint and nail their _ _ _ to the wall as genenco said hehe

you see, you caused no big waves in the meantime and that way the will still help you toward the discharge. you also asked in letter for proof for a refund for services not provided so you can send that to the bar later on. i think this is how i would handle it ;)

[Annika]

We talked to two lawyers prior to filing Ch 7 last year, and the first guy was a TOTAL JERK. He had us feeling like such "bad people" that I was in tears when we left his office. (Among other things, he chewed me out for not having a "real job", when I was just a couple of weeks past having major surgery and hadn't even been released by the doctor yet ... and I'm disabled due to a bad knee on top of it all. I've been self-employed for 12 years now, working from home, but that apparently wasn't "good enough" for him. )

The next day we went and talked to another lawyer, who we hired. The new lawyer's jaw hit the floor when we told him what the other guy had done, and he even apologized for the other guy's behavior.

Anyway, at our 341 meeting, Mr. Rude Lawyer didn't even bother to show up! His clients were "stuck" with a paralegal. Nothing against paralegals, but if someone pays for a lawyer, they'd better get a lawyer!

I was soooo glad that we didn't hire him!

If your lawyer doesn't have a DANG good reason for not being there, I too would file a complaint, especially if he's unwilling to give you a satisfactory refund!

[Mysocalledlyf]

My meeting was scheduled for 2pm on Nov 1. I was there at 12:30. When I got in the room, there were a couple of attorneys already with their clients. A lot, and I mean a lot, had the same attorney, so it was kind of like a musical chairs type thing as he sat and talked to each person before their meeting. But it was 1:30 and I still didnt see any sign of my attorney. 1:45, I was like OMG! what am I going to do, b/c the other lawyers were speaking for their clients, for the most part, whenever the trustee had a question. AND not to mention that my lawyer had all my paper work...titles, pay stubs, etc. So 5 minutes later, Im in tears almost from frustration b/c he told me he was going to be at the meeting, I went outside and called his cell phone. And he's like "Oh, no Im not going to be there but another lawyer is, and their going to handle everything". I was so confused. I went back in the room, it was 5 minutes to 2pm, and I looked around the room trying to look for any lawyers w/o clients, hoping they were there for me. I was so, so mad b/c I had never even met this person, lawyer, paralegal, I didnt know what they were, or if they even knew to show up! When my name was called, I saw a woman stand up and look at me, and she walked across the room with me to the trustee. She introduced herself, and I felt a little bit of relief. It was still totally unexpected, but the trustee only asked me the questions, and that was it. He already had some paperwork on me and "my new lawyer" gave him my information sheet, and it was over. It definitely put a sour taste with me for the lawyer, but Im going to deal with it until Im done, discharged, and hopefully never have to hire another lawyer in my life, atleast not for this reason!

[Pinktiger]

Bankruptcy lawyers are a different breed. I've been around the legal profession a lot -- as a legal secretary and as a news reporter, and I can tell you, this bankruptcy bunch is about the most unprofessional group of lackeys I've every witnessed. They dress like my cousin Vinny -- and they are the type I'd expect to encounter in a sleazy bar. My lawyer, who was not the most polished, was at the top of the heap! I chose him because of his experience in this field. The trustee was a slimeball -- and he was rude and tried to make me squirm. I hated everyone of them. And yet, now that it is almost over, I have to say I'm glad I had the experienced lawyer with me. Don't give up on the legal profession because of what you are experiencing with these lawyers. They are different. Just be glad you are usually not having to deal with them. These are the same types you will see helping people deal with DUI's and DWI's -- not the ones you go to see for much else.

[FloridaGirl]

They dress like my cousin Vinny --

BAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be laughing all night over this statement, Pink. So true.

[Genenco]

For my first bk, my attorney warned me "I'm not arriving till 7 minutes before the meeting, don't worry though" he did as he said and yes, the reason was plain. 4-5 min and out we went.

He was dressed about as good as the trustee...When we first met, we sat in a conference room, up in the cabinet, was BK's he'd done for people and companies. He did say "If you want to see tough, look at some of these"

I was very impressed (One had 400 pages!) and so he got my biz...He was good and that's another thing I look for. A lawyer who is proud of his work.

[quest42]

American Bar Association...

Directory of Lawyer Disciplinary Agencies...

http://www.abanet.org/cpr/regulation/scpd/disciplinary.html