This post may be more interesting to newcomers but if any of you vetrans have any comments they're welcome.
FYI - I live in Indiana, which may be relavent if you're comparing my experience to yours. Anyway, I met with a lawyer about ch7 BK last Wednesday. It was an odd meeting. I went through Legal Helpers and the attorney has a satellite office in my city-his main office being about an hour away in Indianapolis. He was playing receptionist when I arrived and was very friendly and helpful with the paperwork. He was tidying up the sparse office space while I filled it out and joked that he was an expensive secretary and asked if he was bothering me with the noise.
When I was done we went into his equally sparse office and got down to business. He asked me the expected questions about my financial situation, debts, assets, income, what I want to keep, etc. I asked him about the trustees and he said there's two trustees here-one's a man, the other's a woman and gave me their names. He said the guy couldn't care less about assests, etc. I can't remember exactly what he said about the woman but overall I got the impression that the trustees here aren't sharks. He commented that I seem to know alot about the BK process already and I told him how I've researched at this forum. I also asked him what'd I lose. He said nothing because I don't have any assets that would be worthwhile to take and my income is well below the means test. I asked him what could go wrong. Of course, he said he can't predict the future but as long as I haven't hidden any assets from him (and he said he didn't think I was hiding anything) that everything should go smoothly.
He was up front about all the fees which come to $1500. He set me up on a payment plan for the fees and unless I get them paid earlier, I'll be filing in September.
Before I decided to hire him I mentioned that I had appointments with some other lawyers and he asked with who so I showed him my list. He said he could tell me who would be good and who wouldn't. He looked at my list and said that each of them were good BK lawyers and that one of them was the woman trustee. He said it was too bad that she isn't taking new clients right now because if I hired her I'd have the best of both worlds...an excellent BK attorney and the trustee who could care less. Anyway, I was impressed with his candor and honesty about his colleagues. He said a few of them were "small potatoes" but didn't say anything bad about any of them. He also had this attitude that it was ok if I didn't hire him so I didn't feel like he was just after my money. He made it clear that I would have more questions after meeting with him and to call him with any questions.
I asked him how long he's had the satellite office in my city and he said 7 years. I figure the guy's not out to show off anything since the office and waiting room had only the bare necesscities and not even a plant or painting to decorate it with. He had this air of laid-back confidence but not arrogance. I got the impression that he felt my case was just a run-of-the-mill, been there done that a thousand times kind of case and he's done it so many times that he knows exactly how it will turn out and he wasn't concerned that there would be any glitches or problems. Now, I know there can always be problems but I just feel this guy has experience and knows just how to deal with whatever may turn up.
Bottom line, I decided to hire him. I had a really good gut feeling about the guy. Now I just have to get him paid so I can file.
Niteflyes
FYI - I live in Indiana, which may be relavent if you're comparing my experience to yours. Anyway, I met with a lawyer about ch7 BK last Wednesday. It was an odd meeting. I went through Legal Helpers and the attorney has a satellite office in my city-his main office being about an hour away in Indianapolis. He was playing receptionist when I arrived and was very friendly and helpful with the paperwork. He was tidying up the sparse office space while I filled it out and joked that he was an expensive secretary and asked if he was bothering me with the noise.
When I was done we went into his equally sparse office and got down to business. He asked me the expected questions about my financial situation, debts, assets, income, what I want to keep, etc. I asked him about the trustees and he said there's two trustees here-one's a man, the other's a woman and gave me their names. He said the guy couldn't care less about assests, etc. I can't remember exactly what he said about the woman but overall I got the impression that the trustees here aren't sharks. He commented that I seem to know alot about the BK process already and I told him how I've researched at this forum. I also asked him what'd I lose. He said nothing because I don't have any assets that would be worthwhile to take and my income is well below the means test. I asked him what could go wrong. Of course, he said he can't predict the future but as long as I haven't hidden any assets from him (and he said he didn't think I was hiding anything) that everything should go smoothly.
He was up front about all the fees which come to $1500. He set me up on a payment plan for the fees and unless I get them paid earlier, I'll be filing in September.
Before I decided to hire him I mentioned that I had appointments with some other lawyers and he asked with who so I showed him my list. He said he could tell me who would be good and who wouldn't. He looked at my list and said that each of them were good BK lawyers and that one of them was the woman trustee. He said it was too bad that she isn't taking new clients right now because if I hired her I'd have the best of both worlds...an excellent BK attorney and the trustee who could care less. Anyway, I was impressed with his candor and honesty about his colleagues. He said a few of them were "small potatoes" but didn't say anything bad about any of them. He also had this attitude that it was ok if I didn't hire him so I didn't feel like he was just after my money. He made it clear that I would have more questions after meeting with him and to call him with any questions.
I asked him how long he's had the satellite office in my city and he said 7 years. I figure the guy's not out to show off anything since the office and waiting room had only the bare necesscities and not even a plant or painting to decorate it with. He had this air of laid-back confidence but not arrogance. I got the impression that he felt my case was just a run-of-the-mill, been there done that a thousand times kind of case and he's done it so many times that he knows exactly how it will turn out and he wasn't concerned that there would be any glitches or problems. Now, I know there can always be problems but I just feel this guy has experience and knows just how to deal with whatever may turn up.
Bottom line, I decided to hire him. I had a really good gut feeling about the guy. Now I just have to get him paid so I can file.
Niteflyes
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