Hiring an attorney from a different county? Can this hurt my Ch7 case?

[illlitius]

I found an excellent attorney with 30 years of experience located in a different county than mine. (45 mins away). I checked and there is a different BK court where he is located.

Since he lives in a different county and different BK court, can I hire him?
Or can this hurt my bk case? (inexperience in my county, unfamiliar with my county's bk courts etc etc.)

Thanks in advance.

[BKParalegal]

Most likely he will file it in the division he is located in unless he is admitted to practice in your division. This is a common practice amongst attorneys where there are multiple courts in a metropolitan area.

Good luck

[illlitius]

Most likely he will file it in the division he is located in unless he is admitted to practice in your division. This is a common practice amongst attorneys where there are multiple courts in a metropolitan area.

Good luck

Thanks BKParalegal.

So I just found out that even though there is a separate bk courthouse in his location and in mine, they both are located in the same Central District and same uniform laws.

1) So does that mean if he files in his location that I would have to do everything "BK related" such as meeting of creditors, etc. and drive to his location (45 mins) instead of my closer location?

2) And all the great things I've heard people here do (Such as go to local courthouse and run PACER searches to research on lawyer's track records etc)

Can I just go to my local courthouse and research on my lawyer even if he is in a different courthouse location? (Although same central district / same uniform law)

[momindebt]

Ours isn't in our county and there have been no issues....

[despritfreya]

OP,

The attorney in a different County of your State can absolutely represent you. He/she is admitted to practice in the State of California and in the Federal District Court located in the State of California. There is no separate criteria to practice in the Bankruptcy Court except that you must be admitted to practice in the State court system as well as the Federal District Court system located in that State.

I handle cases in every county in my State.

Des.

[BrokeinMD]

My attorney's office is about 60 miles from where I live, and he travelled that, plus an extra 30 miles to the location for my 341. He said that usually he "farms" out the far away ones, but made the personal appearance for me.

[tcreegan]

Hi illlitius,

Here are some things to discuss w/ your attorney, make sure both of you are on the same page:

Communication: phone/email/face-to-face, secretary/paralegal/attorney, turnaround time on responses
Organizaton/work ethic: dot all i's, cross all t's or 'good enough,' document filed ASAP or 'before the deadline'
Competence: know the local trustees, judges, filed cases like yours, up-to-date on relevant court rulings
Retainer/Fee: exactly what is covered, what is extra, what to expect as 'extra'

and stuff like, do you commute to me or do I commute to you needs to be spelled out in the beginning b4 it gets a chance to be a problem.

Good luck to you, hope you and your attorney make a great team!

Tom in Colo

[NewPage]

My attorney is in an entirely different state. I hired him over the local guys b/c he has no disciplinary actions from either state bar (he is licensed in both my and the neighboring state).