Is my Lawyer an Idiot?

[Susan]

I had to appear in Court today for 2 cases
(this is the second time, already did a continuance).

I filed for BK about 2 weeks ago (signed the papers).

I told my lawyer about the up coming court cases and he
said "don't worry about" it goes away once you file.
I emailed him a few days ago and asked if he had contacted the lawyers.
He emailed back "Taken care of".

I showed up in court today just in case my name was called,. . .
and big surprise, . . it was (for 2 cases).

If I didn't show up, they would have had a judgment against me.
I know it would have been eventually void, but why didn't my
lawyer contact those lawyers?
Both the Judge and lawyers said it was a good idea that I came.
My lawyer would call me "paranoid" whenever I mentioned the court cases.

Was it a good idea that I showed up and stopped these judgments?

[justbroke]

The judgments would have been "void ab initio" (void from the beggining) since you had filed before the judgment would have been issued. You probably didn't pay your attorney to deal with the judgments and other court cases, and this is why they generally do very little with them. You generally pay a "no-look" fee for the bankruptcy itself, and not to deal with other (outside) "litigation" that may be pending. An attorney's fee schedule -- and hence your fee agreement -- will usually contain hourly rates for doing things outside the bankruptcy.

Having wrote that, yes your attorney may have only called the other attorney told them that the bankruptcy was filed. That the case continued anyhow was probably beyond what your attorney was willing to do under your current scope agreement.

So, no, your attorney is not an idiot. You may just be expecting more from your BK attorney... than you paid him for.

[nokia123]

I had to appear in Court today for 2 cases
(this is the second time, already did a continuance).

I filed for BK about 2 weeks ago (signed the papers).

I told my lawyer about the up coming court cases and he
said "don't worry about" it goes away once you file.
I emailed him a few days ago and asked if he had contacted the lawyers.
He emailed back "Taken care of".

I showed up in court today just in case my name was called,. . .
and big surprise, . . it was (for 2 cases).

If I didn't show up, they would have had a judgment against me.
I know it would have been eventually void, but why didn't my
lawyer contact those lawyers?
Both the Judge and lawyers said it was a good idea that I came.
My lawyer would call me "paranoid" whenever I mentioned the court cases.

Was it a good idea that I showed up and stopped these judgments?

I also had 2 cases coming up, so after i filed I called the 2 parties and told them i filed bk and gave them my case number and asked if they will withdraw the case from the court. Now, i had to call them twice but it got done. I just received the latter yesterday from the court stating that both case's was withdrawn. I did go to the court web-site and saw it for muself.

[tcreegan]

Hi all, Hi Susan,

Your attorney is probably not an idiot, but he might have more on his plate than he handle right now. I would re-read the fee agreement/retainer to see what exactly your attorney has agreed to do, then have a sit down and discuss communication. (oh Lord, I'm starting to sound like Dr Phil)

Simple money judgment lawsuits aren't hard to handle once you file BK, send a copy of the BK notice w/ BK case# and file date to the attorneys for the creditor and request they petition the court to dismiss their lawsuit. Then file a copy w/ the court clerk for the judgment lawsuit court. Make sure to put the case# for the judgment lawsuit.

Hope things start to go more smoothly for you!

Tom in Colo

[Susan]

thanks all . . This is not about what services he does or doesn't do, I think.

It's about this issue of the Court cases I raised with him : he doesn't see it as a big deal.

My main point was why get the Judgments against me when they could have easily been avoided?

He even called a Lawyer for me about another issue I had before I even gave him a dime, so I don't think
it's about just making a few phone calls.

He kept saying to me "All cases will stop once you file" . . . even if I do get Judgments against me, . . no big deal.

Is he wrong here? If I get a judgment against me, it may have the potential to be a problem later on, true or false?

[tobee43]

well...it''s nj.......AKA.........GET AS MUCH MONEY FROM THE CLIENT AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!

we had a friend...she had to pay the atty $700 per motion to vacate the judgments....

we left nj...and filed in florida...waited it out (2 years)...LOL!! we went underground until we could file under full florida's exemption and get their "wildcard" excemption...unlike nj which was so creditor friendly...most likely had we filed there it would have been federal...since nj is one state that gives you the choice.

[justbroke]

thanks all . . This is not about what services he does or doesn't do, I think.

Actually, it's a technical situation and yes, unfortunately, it is about what services you retained (contracted) the attorney for. I actually believe that your attorney did in fact contact the plaintiff's attorney. It's not up to your attorney to have the hearing canceled and the case dismissed. It's up to the plaintiff's attorney to do that.

Let me go deeper into this, because it deserves more explanation. Your bankruptcy attorney does not represent you in that civil case. In fact, your attorney would have to "enter an appearance" in the other case, and then that becomes additional fees that he can collect. The fact that this is really insignificant, your attorney voluntarily spent 5 minutes on the phone to contact the other attorney and tell them the case was filed. That the plaintiff's attorney didn't contact the Clerk of the Court for the civil case, is not your attorney's issue since he doesn't represent you in that case, and hasn't entered an appearance in that other court. The difference may be subtle and indistinguishable to you and others, but it is a matter of practice. (Additionally, your attorney may not even be admitted to practice in that other court; although that's probably unlikely.)

t's about this issue of the Court cases I raised with him : he doesn't see it as a big deal.

It's not a big issue and he doesn't represent you in the other case.

My main point was why get the Judgments against me when they could have easily been avoided?

Your attorney contacted the plaintiff's attorney. If they were to get judgments after having been told that a case was filed, would mean damages and your attorney would then be paid, by them, to have the judgment(s) vacated.

He even called a Lawyer for me about another issue I had before I even gave him a dime, so I don't think it's about just making a few phone calls.

He was being really nice. You should be thanking him for not charging you fees.

He kept saying to me "All cases will stop once you file" . . . even if I do get Judgments against me, . . no big deal.

That is true. However, timing, scheduling, and human error, on the plaintiff's side, happens all the time. Those judgments mean absolutely nothing because they are void... from the start!

Is he wrong here? If I get a judgment against me, it may have the potential to be a problem later on, true or false?

Absolutely not wrong. If the plaintiff doesn't dismiss (withdraw) the case within 4-6 weeks, kindly ask your attorney if he'll look into it. You may need to pay fees. I'm sure he is saving you money by not entering an appearance in the other case and requesting another retainer. It's a waste of money to do so.

I hope this information helps you and others to understand the interaction.

[tcreegan]

Hi Susan,

thanks all . . This is not about what services he does or doesn't do, I think. .....ehhhh, think about it like any other professional, say a doctor, you go in for a physical and tell the doc you have congestion and sinus pressure. You paid for a physical, you get a physical. Doc tells you that the other symptoms are no big deal, probably just a cold. If you want a chest x-ray and bloodwork, you come back later and pay for a chest x-ray and bloodwork. Attorneys same kind of deal.

It's about this issue of the Court cases I raised with him : he doesn't see it as a big deal. ....thats b/c if you are filing BK, it isn't a big deal.

My main point was why get the Judgments against me when they could have easily been avoided? ...b/c they were already void once you filed BK

He even called a Lawyer for me about another issue I had before I even gave him a dime, so I don't think it's about just making a few phone calls. ....if someone does you a favor and gives you a flower, you wouldn't expect them to weed the whole flowerbed right?

He kept saying to me "All cases will stop once you file" . . . even if I do get Judgments against me, . . no big deal. ....you filed BK, even if you didn't show up and the judge gave the plaintiff lawyers a judgment and they waved it from the rooftops...its no big deal...the judgment is v-o-i-d void. (but waving it from the rooftops would be a violation of the BK court automatic stay, they could get spanked for that)

Is he wrong here? If I get a judgment against me, it may have the potential to be a problem later on, true or false? ....naw, you send the judgment court a copy of the Bk notice (or discharge order if they want that) and tell them the debt was discharged in the BK so the judgment is void and please correct the court record to reflect this.

There are bigger fish to fry in a BK case, let the small ones go...if nothing else to preserve your sanity !

Tom in Colo

[Susan]

thanks all for the info . . .

Tom I think you answered my question :

>> If I get a judgment against me, it may have the potential to be a problem later on ...

Send the judgment court a copy of the Bk notice (or discharge order if they want that) and tell them the debt was discharged in the BK so the judgment is void and please correct the court record

This is what I was talking about. Why should I have to worry about this later if all the lawyer had to do was make a phone call?
It wasn't about making a phone call for him, he just didn't think it was important.

I also read on here that this could get on your credit report (like I really care about that anyway at this point) and be difficult to remove.

Both the judge and the lawyer said it was a good thing that I came to the court to stop these judgments.

There is a difference between "everything stops when you file for Bk", and "having to deal with unnecessary b*llsh*t later"
that could just have easily been avoided with a lousy phone call.

[justbroke]

thanks all for the info . . .

Unfortunately, you still misunderstand what was well-written above. These are two (or more) different matters. Yes, everything "stops" because anything that happens is void ab initio (from the beginning). But, there are all sorts of technicalities and there are no broad things anyone can tell you that will say it will all be perfect.

You could just retain your BK attorney to handle the other matter. It will cost you. I think you believe that, somehow, this was all included in your BK fee and it absolutely isn't. Just read your service (fee) agreement.

[tcreegan]

that could just have easily been avoided with a lousy phone call. .....ehhh, a phone call wouldn't do it. The BK notice has to be filed in the judgement court and served on the plaintiff attorneys.

Take the path of least resistance, do it yourself, forgive your attorney, focus on the BK

....breath in....exhale slowly.....relax...

Tom in Colo

[Susan]

>> that could just have easily been avoided with a lousy phone call. .....ehhh, a phone call wouldn't do it.

One of the attorneys said that if my lawyer called I would have not had to come to court.

I just don't like that he kept saying I was "paranoid" because I kept bringing this up.
I'm just glad those damn judgments didn't go through at this point.