Torn between two lawyers

[shoopy]

I think that I have narrowed down my short list of attorneys to two.

One guy is a named partner (his name is part of the firms name). Their firm doesn't appear to advertise, and there is almost frighteningly little information about them on the net other than they represented the trustee for a forced bankruptcy involving massive fraud by a local company which gathered national media attention. I only got about 10 minutes of his time, the rest with his assistant. Also, he is in another county, 60 miles away, but they have other clients in my area and are used to the commute.

The other guy is a solo practitioner, with a couple of legal aids, very easy to talk to, spent over an hour with me. But, his office seemed a bit disorganized, and I'm not quite sure how to take that. He has a very good rating on AVVO.com, but I don't know how much that means.

I've interviewed over 10 attorneys, and am running out of steam. Should I go with the easy to talk to, close by guy, with slightly disorganized office, and hope that it doesn't indicate a proclivity for missing filing dates, and such. Or, go with the guy in the next county. Both have A+ BBB ratings, and both have promptly replied to post meeting emailed questions. Or should I keep looking--sigh... Is there such a thing as perfect client-lawyer fit? Am I expecting to much?

[justbroke]

You always choose the one that makes you feel more comfortable and easy to talk to. It appears that both seem to represent the qualities you like and your real choice is the age-old question. Do you go with the one with little information, but "big" name... or the smaller firm with a slightly more personal touch and appears disorganized. I wish I could tell you it's an EASY choice!

In the end, choose one that makes you feel the most comfortable. The disorganized but more personal touch of the small shop may be more to your liking. If your case is uncomplicated, no-asset, no divorce, no lawsuits, no fraudulent conveyances type of case... the small shop would work just fine.

There is never a perfect fit... and if there is you should probably run. (That's because the attorney is only telling you what you want to hear.) You should choose an attorney first for their skill (actually does bankruptcies like yours often) and then for how personable they are. There are two parts to "comfort" and they are almost diametrically opposed. There's the comfort in the attorney's knowledge and there's the comfort in the attorneys "easy to do business with" style.

If you're still not comfortable... keep looking.

[keepsmiling]

I will tell you that when we interviewed an atty who was also a tt, her office was a disaster.
But I think her being a tt totally outweighs that. And she was a real person, easy to talk to, and spent time with us. Even had an interesting collection of pottery to look at while waiting.
We aren't filing yet but she'd be a contender. The other contender is a boot camper and a nice guy too.

[df04527]

We had an appeals lawyer once, (not related to bk), many years ago, who came very highly recommended to us from his peers. His office was a disaster with books and paperwork piles sitting on the floor all over his office. It was amazing, these piles were about a foot tall too! Nice big beautiful office in a beautiful building. He took an appeal to the fla supreme court for us and won.....Fast forward to today --- he is now a prominent judge in one of fla's circuits.

[justbroke]

So, the messier the better?

[df04527]

It surprised me and we almost didn't go with him because we thought the same thing. Is he going to be able to even find our case?.... lol.... it took FOREVER and a day (upwards to 18 months) but he did it, we didn't have to hardly contact him or anything, he kept us informed and poof before you knew it he was calling to say it was scheduled with the supreme court and he was going to go and asked if we wanted to come and watch. Matter of fact we received a call from the media telling us he won before he had a chance to call us but he was a great guy and was very comfortable to talk with.

So the old saying of judging a book by it's cover sure fits in his case. I'm a benefit of the doubt person so I went with my gut with him - then later to learn he's a judge and going for third term now I believe. Amazing and well deserved.

lol

[ValleYum]

So, the messier the better?

LOL Empty desk = empty mind.

To the OP: Our attorney was well-reviewed on AVVO.com. His office was small and kind of messyish & he is a bootcamper. I feel super confident when I recommend him now but was torn like you were at the beginning between two offices. It is a tough choice but the first step was the hardest (choosing). I wouldn't change a thing now.

Good luck!

[pamkev]

What is a bootcamper

[ValleYum]

What is a bootcamper

Hi Pam! I am on my Nook at the moment and can't post the link but Google "Bankruptcy Bootcamper" and you can read about it there.

[TheBajan]

I think that I have narrowed down my short list of attorneys to two.

One guy is a named partner (his name is part of the firms name). Their firm doesn't appear to advertise, and there is almost frighteningly little information about them on the net other than they represented the trustee for a forced bankruptcy involving massive fraud by a local company which gathered national media attention. I only got about 10 minutes of his time, the rest with his assistant. Also, he is in another county, 60 miles away, but they have other clients in my area and are used to the commute.

The other guy is a solo practitioner, with a couple of legal aids, very easy to talk to, spent over an hour with me. But, his office seemed a bit disorganized, and I'm not quite sure how to take that. He has a very good rating on AVVO.com, but I don't know how much that means.

I've interviewed over 10 attorneys, and am running out of steam. Should I go with the easy to talk to, close by guy, with slightly disorganized office, and hope that it doesn't indicate a proclivity for missing filing dates, and such. Or, go with the guy in the next county. Both have A+ BBB ratings, and both have promptly replied to post meeting emailed questions. Or should I keep looking--sigh... Is there such a thing as perfect client-lawyer fit? Am I expecting to much?

I also contacted quite a few attorney's either by phone or in free consults. You won't find the perfect one. I think we got lucky. Our's was also a trustee for chp 7 and on good terms with the chp 13 trustee. His downfall was procrastination. It drove me crazy. I wanted to file and in Dec right after we stopped paying on the cc's and he kept stalling until Feb when I finally had to just park myself in his office while he did the filing. That frustrating fault is far outweighed by his knowledge, compassion, and experience with BK law in Michigan. He was not the most organized either and several times I had to remind him of certain things he kept forgetting. He was still the best choice for us and I'm VERY glad we went with him. There were a couple of atty's we spoke to before him that I really liked on a personal level and until we talked to him and were made aware of the Michigan exemptions, I was fully confident in their BK knowledge and expertise. We would have lost a great deal if we had chosen to go with either of them.

From what you have described, I would say go with the guy that is closer. It seems his fault in your mind is disorganization. Compansate for that by making sure you are organized. The fact of the matter is that you will need to be anyway so this is a good place to start. He can still be a great attorney.
Best wishes,
The Bajan

[pamkev]

Thanks Valle looked it up quite interesting

[Drazil65]

We went with the one that we were very comfortable with. He spent time with us and always answered his emails directly to us and we had his direct line in his office. If we wanted to speak with his paralegal we had to call her line directly. He was one of 2 attorneys in his office and his desk was a mess most of the time but he knew the system, had been in BK practice for 18 years, knew many of the trustees and was well respected in the courts.

We had interviewed with a couple of big, bankruptcy mill type of offices and dealt mostly with the paralegals (one attorney spent about 15 minutes with us and then turned us over to the paralegal for the paperwork), this was all stuff that was very important in our decision. Our chp 7 was went off without a hitch and to this day (we were discharged and closed on 3/21/12) our attorney has checked in with us to make sure we are doing ok and do we have any post BK questions. Go with your gut on this as your choice can make or break your process. Good Luck!

[lillymarlene]

Summer of 2010 I also had narrowed my list down to a couple of attorneys, both single man firms. Then actually, I felt most comfortable with the one I didn't pick. He seemed to be a very nice guy, his waiting room had soft; plush chairs, and his office was neat and organized. I actually got to the point of making another appointment, though I later cancelled.

The second attorney who I decided to retain, did not seem all that friendly. However, I liked some of his answers to my questions, and I just had a hunch he could do more for me than the other individual. Then I called him to set up the second appointment, and he told me that he couldn't help me. But I persisted, and so far so good. (I'm about 1 1/2 years into my chapter 13.) His office now that I think of it, seemed slightly disorganized and had a lot of files and stacks of paper around. Maybe it is better to go with the one with the messy desk :-)

[shoopy]

The oddest thing just happened. An attorney that I had consulted with early on in my search just called me. This is not one of the two guys that I had narrowed it down to, but was actually the front runner, until I could not get a call back from him regarding something particularly germane to my situation. I figured that I had done something to offend him, and crossed him off my list.

When he called today, he apologized for being so late in getting back to me, answered my original question and several others, as well as restating his qualifications, and told me to call his office in the morning to set up for a second appointment. He said that my request for a response from him had gotten lost in the shuffle, and he finally had gotten his desk cleared off.

Of course, I was not referring to him as the slightly disorganized office guy, but I wonder if he reads bkforums and thought that I was referring to him (I actually thought that his office looked pretty organized. Anyway, I'm glad he called, as I really liked him, and he is actually close enough that I can grab a Slurpy at 7-11, and park myself in his office for the long haul, if I can't get a question answered if I hire him.

Anyway, it's down to slightly disorganized office guy and just called me back guy.

Thanks to all the folks that left replies, they were seriously helpful in redirecting my thinking.