How long between retaining an attorney and actual filing

[rooster0330]

I am just curious how long do people usually wait to file between giving the attorney a retainer and actually filing the paperwork.

We retained an attorney on February 18....we are not planning on filing for at least another few months!

Love to hear the timeline for other people!!!!

[DeadManCrawling]

Three years for us.

That is not typical, but we had a quite unusual case, even by attorney standards. I think most people are filed within a couple months of making the decision.

[Mi Bankruptcy]

paid retainer in July 08. Filed Nov 08 had 341 in Jan 09

[sickandtired]

We consulted and retained in May 2009 and are filing now. For us it was a matter of trying to get caught up on house pmts, but then once we decided to let it go we used that money and paid the attorney. Now its just a matter of looking over our petition and getting recent paystubs together.

[andysmom]

we consulted/retained atty end of Feb. and are filing in 2 weeks (3rd wk in april)- just had to wait to come up w/the money to pay lawyer. don't qualify for a chapter 7/ filing a 13. i wish i had more time to prepare.

[screentest]

Retained last week. Wont be filing until after July1st sometime.

ST

[nc73]

Saw lawyer 3 weeks ago and just retained this past tuesday. Will file first week of June. I wanted to do it sooner but had to wait the 91 days since I just moved back.

[liz417]

Retained an attorney 1 year before I was able to file for BK.

[logmaster]

Retained an attorney on 11/1/2009, filed on 2/2/2010

[Overmylimit]

Retained (paid in full) for 1.5 years then filed

[btbeme]

Consulted several attorneys as early as August 2009 as a "just in case" after losing my business and income. Got serious around Jan 2010 and consulted several more to find "the right one". Found the right one in early March; retained him last week, plan to file in the next 2 months or so.

According to him, he tells everyone to expect at least a month between retainer and filing due to the enormous load that he and all other BK attorneys are under. This will allow him and his staff time to review the paperwork, make corrections, go over it twice again to make sure, and file. He said that his AVERAGE is about three months, as debtors sometimes drag their feet or need more time to pass after charges, etc.

Bottom line - earlier is better. Don't expect an attorney to do a quick turnaround right now - far too many cases on their desks, far bigger risk of making an honest mistake that will cost more time, money, TT issues, or a denial.

All the attorneys that I consulted answered "Yes" when I asked them if they believed that there was a strategy to filing without undue risk of getting a Trustee upset. BK laws are designed to protect the debtor as much as anyone else - just make sure that you tell the truth and don't play games. Hence, the need for a good attorney and a reasonable amount of time before filing.

[researchmode]

We met our attorney in February for the consultation. Due to tax refund we had to wait until it was in our bank before we retained him.

Our contract says that if we fail to give them the paperwork packet within 30 days they will assume that we changed our mind and they will close the file, no refunds. Personally I want to file right away.

The lawyer said that it's usually at least four weeks from retaining time to filing. Two weeks for you to work on your paperwork (on average), time to review with the lawyer, put into the system, review again, and then file.

I hope that helps. Good luck!!!