how much is too much for attorney fees for chapter 7 (pa)?

[mm2009]

Curious on this one..

I thought the attorney my divorce attorney recommended, seemed a little pricey, not to mention they state no refunds..

but.. for a single filing of about 32k in debt with a house in pa.. they are charging roughly $2499 for everything.. my wife (whom i am divorcing) decided she wants to file jointly, now they said it would be an extra $500.

Is this extraordinarily high in cost? Or just par for the course.. I've tried one other "downtown" bigger lawyer, who was about the same, maybe a little less.. but this attorney was closer to home etc..

Does the level of debt affect what it will cost..

I forget, but at least singly, i think i heard him say it was around $1900 just in legal fees perhaps.. court costs etc..

Thanks

[BROKEDED]

If you do a search on "attorney cost" you will find several threads on the subject. It's hard to say for a particular area but from what I saw the "norm" regardless of area seemed to be around $1500 to $1800 plus court and counseling.

The first, and only, attorney I've talked to wanted $2800 for everything for a joint Chapter 7. I thought that was high.

[justbroke]

Well, if you're in the middle of divorce and there's a dissolution to contend with, then that could present additional time the BK attorney needs. There's a BK attorney on here named Jim who is from Penn. Hopefully he pops in shortly.

[sjcmCA]

The attorney fee range in Northern California for Chapter 7 is between $900 and $1,800. The uppront fee is nothing because there would be more fees as the bk case goes on.
The attorney intake/agreement form should be read very carefully otherwise you would end up with much higher fees.

I saw an intake form with unacceptable level of fees in case of any addtional works....I thought that the fees would be up to $5,000. Come on it's for BK!

Recommend to meet more attorneys to find out the reasonalbe fees in that areas.

[mm2009]

My forms said something to the effect of $2499 (single filing).. includes counselling, court costs, legal fees etc..

But somewhere in there it makes a statement about fees increasing if things come etc..

Unfortunately i cant get my $500 back, they stated no refunds (to retain).. and i'm on the verge of beginning the credit card stopping process.. so now i'm caught between a rock and hard place.. still thinking though, if i could get an attorney (fast) that was at least 500 less or more, then it may be worth switching, assuming they were actually good at their job though. (i'm in western PA, westmoreland county)...

[justbroke]

I would wait for Jim to chime in. Fees are very particular and are different based on the area of the country you're in, the specific District (as some have no-look fees that attorneys get to charge), and complexity of your case. The more issues there are, the higher the fees are going to be, plain and simple.

Almost every attorney out there that provides his prospective client with a services agreement, will indicate that anything above and beyond the listed services (prepare and submit petition, petition filing fee, attend 341 Meeting, handle objections to claims up to 20) will have al la carte or per hour fees for things such as substantial number of claims, complaints (adversary proceedings), opposition to motions, continued 341 Meeting not due to the Attorney's error... etc. These are usually handled at an hourly rate above and beyond the services rate in the agreement.

[JimKutkowski]

Where are the Eastern PA people? Jeez if I only lived in Pittsburgh. $2499 seems a bit high, but you got stuck with the $500 retainer. The real question is can you find a quality attorney for under $2000? Doubtful. When I take an above median 7 it costs $2K all inclusive, so you probably should stick with these folks, unless they give you the creeps, in which case I can refer you to a Western PA attorney most likely.

[mm2009]

Where are the Eastern PA people? Jeez if I only lived in Pittsburgh. $2499 seems a bit high, but you got stuck with the $500 retainer. The real question is can you find a quality attorney for under $2000? Doubtful. When I take an above median 7 it costs $2K all inclusive, so you probably should stick with these folks, unless they give you the creeps, in which case I can refer you to a Western PA attorney most likely.

Thanks for the tip...
when you say 2k would ghat typically be joint or single? This local one is asking 2499 single and 2999 joint.

Thanks for your help

[momisery]

It will depend on your case. I think the fees are too high in lower income areas but then I think most prices are too high in those areas for people to afford. But over all I would be more concerned about how good the attorney is, that I wish you could find out before you hire someone. A sort of BK accreditation award .. lol would be nice. Maybe a Patty's list for who to hire for your BK in your area would be a real hit right now?

[mm2009]

It will depend on your case. I think the fees are too high in lower income areas but then I think most prices are too high in those areas for people to afford. But over all I would be more concerned about how good the attorney is, that I wish you could find out before you hire someone. A sort of BK accreditation award .. lol would be nice. Maybe a Patty's list for who to hire for your BK in your area would be a real hit right now?

Yeah i wish there were such a thing.. actually my aunt used this attorney 5 years ago.. she said what he is charging is "alot more than what we payed", of course it was 5 years ago.. and who knows.. it worked out for them..

I'm more worried about appeals by creditors, costing me more as this attorney has listed in the terms page etc.. i hope it stays on budget.

[markdel16]

I'm in Eastern PA, my atty gets about $1750 for a Chapter 7 and $3000 for a Chapter 13.

[want2save]

wow, I was lucky here in Oregon...$1,000 flat fee whether single or joint. My lawyer was responsive and everything went beautifully! (I found him online, filled out the questionaire, spoke to him on the phone, and away we went...)

Filed May, 2009
Discharged Sept 2009

[want2save]

p.s. I also paid a $299 filing fee.

[OhioFiler]

Anything can be negotiated, including legal fees. Tell the attorney he gets the $500 and nothing more or he gets a total of $2,499 for both of you. He'll go along with the $2,499. If not, walk and find another attorney.

[JimKutkowski]

I'm in Eastern PA, my atty gets about $1750 for a Chapter 7 and $3000 for a Chapter 13.

Was that with fees included or without?