My Uneventful Consult with Attorney

[anonymuse]

No earth shattering news here.

Just spent about an hour with a consult with an attorney about Ch 7. I told him my biggest problem was trying to determine the value of my home and when I showed him my paperwork he thought it was very organized and showed sound justification with the numbers I had arrived at.

I tried to bite my lip when he was going over stuff I already knew.

Only three new tidbits of information I got confirmed with him are: (1) if I get a payment increase after I file and before the case closes, it doesn't matter, (2) if I get any settlement from a personal injury claim I have outstanding, the money is exempt, (3) if I have a small amount of non-exempt equity, I could "payoff" the trustee for that amount, but he didn't really know if it would be lump sum or over time--real vague answer to question I sorely needed an answer to.

He has a trustee working in the same office and said that it seems like they are still ironing out the new law for consistencies between trustees.

We talked about filing pro se, and he said the obligatory "I can't recommend you go with a lawyer or go on your own" but you definitely have a good understanding of what is going on here and the level of detail involved.

I asked him why are 80% of pro se filers getting dismissed and he didn't realize the number was so high, but I pointed it out to him on the state web site. He says that the office gets back forms periodically since they've missed something here or there since sometimes it depends on which clerk is reviewing the stuff.

Didn't exactly feel inspired or uninspired by him. I realize as the debtor that 99% of the work is on your own, but felt like I was talking with someone that would just be filling in forms which I provided the numbers for. Didn't get that sense of someone "going to bat" for me.

Then the dreaded last detail--$2500 plus filing fees up front.

[axeshifter]

You might consider a different lawyer

Our lawyer cost us a third of what you would pay and he is great. He only does bankruptcy and has filed over 2000 cases. More importantly, he really knows his stuff and he is very confident about the new laws. Our initial consultation was over the phone and I had researched quite a lot prior. I had quite a few tough questions for him, not only did he answer them, he seemed to be excited about it. He kept saying things like "Oh man that's a great question! It's really simple though, blah blah blah" It was a great experience.
I wonder if location makes a difference. We are in a fairly rural area and I think he gets a lot of bussiness from word of mouth. The prices here are also usually under a thousand no matter where you go.
Anyway good luck to you. I think if you've got the knowledge to go pro se but get a lawyer anyway, that you are going to have the best chance of being discharged.

[anonymuse]

I think the "location" cost had more to do with the really nice offices and nice historic building in downtown location than anything else.

[LostOne0069]

As mentioned in another post, it's not "80% of pro-se filers are getting dismissed" it's "80% of the cases that are dismissed are pro-se" there's a BIG difference between those two statements.

[anonymuse]

As mentioned in another post, it's not "80% of pro-se filers are getting dismissed" it's "80% of the cases that are dismissed are pro-se" there's a BIG difference between those two statements.

Good distinction.