Hey everyone!
You guys probably don't remember me, but I have straddled the BK fence for several reasons (not all of which I was willing to reveal in a public forum). Anyway, in May I finally had enough and found a lawyer to retain. His firm has a lot of good reviews on Yelp and on the web, and he assured me that all my back taxes, at least the ones filed more than two years ago, are dischargeable, as are all my business debts, which are in the hundreds of thousands.
Anyway, his fee is $3,000.00 plus the $400.00 filing fee, which I finished paying him off early in July or late June, I forget exactly.
Now here are my problems, and I want you guys to tell me if I am hopefully worried for nothing or I need to do something:
Before I finished paying him the entire amount (it took about 6 weeks in total) one of the lawyers or their paralegals were on the phone with me all the time, rushing me so we could get filed as soon as humanly possible. However, since I finished paying the retainer and filing fee, I cannot get the attorney on the phone and haven't spoken to him since I paid off the retainer, gave him all my tax paperwork, and filled out all his financial paperwork. I have called dozens of times, and his receptionist assures me that "I am working on your case constantly!"
She says this in a way that I guess is supposed to sound like I am the only case she has to work on so I feel important. But what concerns me is that I was told we would file a WEEK OR TWO after I took my course and paid off my retainer. Now, about two months has gone by, and the only contact I have are sketchy phone calls with a receptionist, and while the lawyer was ALWAYS around before I paid my retainer, now he is mysteriously NEVER in the office and "will return my call as soon as possible" yet not one call has been returned.
Let me be clear: If this is standard, then fine. But why would the office rush me through the payment process on the grounds that they want to file FAST and then this? If there was some communication, I wouldn't be concerned, but now I am starting to wonder if I am either being screwed OR this office has a great many clients and not nearly enough lawyers and staff.
Don't get me wrong, there are reasons it could be taking so long. First off, the receptionist once said (over a month ago) that all my tax liabilities are making my case more complicated and that's why it is taking so much time. Okay, fine, but then why do I have to keep calling and the lawyer or paralegal NEVER calls me to give me any update? Seems strange to me. Not only that, but every time I do speak to the paralegal, she says, "Oh, we will file in a week or two. We'll call you and have you come in to sign he petition." Problem is she has said this to me every time I have called for the past two months.
So here is a question: Am I worried about nothing? And if my worries are justifyable, at what point do I demand my retainer back and look for another lawyer? I may be nowhere near there yet, but I want to know, if my concerns are justified, at what point do I have to either act or threaten to act? Of course, I don't want to hurt my case or his representation of me, so I am biting my tongue now!
If my concerns are justified, then what recourse do I have? I could certainly call the credit card company and dispute the charge (I use a relative's card for stuff like this and pay them which the lawyer said was all right, by the way). But that is going really far and I would only do that as a last resort.
Hell, I could totally be worried about nothing, and regardless of the attorney's original assertions that we will file soon. I just wanted to get some opinions about this. Certainly I am NOT going to go off half-cocked and potentially ruin my relationship with this attorney if what he is doing, as weird as it seems to me, is normal.
You guys probably don't remember me, but I have straddled the BK fence for several reasons (not all of which I was willing to reveal in a public forum). Anyway, in May I finally had enough and found a lawyer to retain. His firm has a lot of good reviews on Yelp and on the web, and he assured me that all my back taxes, at least the ones filed more than two years ago, are dischargeable, as are all my business debts, which are in the hundreds of thousands.
Anyway, his fee is $3,000.00 plus the $400.00 filing fee, which I finished paying him off early in July or late June, I forget exactly.
Now here are my problems, and I want you guys to tell me if I am hopefully worried for nothing or I need to do something:
Before I finished paying him the entire amount (it took about 6 weeks in total) one of the lawyers or their paralegals were on the phone with me all the time, rushing me so we could get filed as soon as humanly possible. However, since I finished paying the retainer and filing fee, I cannot get the attorney on the phone and haven't spoken to him since I paid off the retainer, gave him all my tax paperwork, and filled out all his financial paperwork. I have called dozens of times, and his receptionist assures me that "I am working on your case constantly!"
She says this in a way that I guess is supposed to sound like I am the only case she has to work on so I feel important. But what concerns me is that I was told we would file a WEEK OR TWO after I took my course and paid off my retainer. Now, about two months has gone by, and the only contact I have are sketchy phone calls with a receptionist, and while the lawyer was ALWAYS around before I paid my retainer, now he is mysteriously NEVER in the office and "will return my call as soon as possible" yet not one call has been returned.
Let me be clear: If this is standard, then fine. But why would the office rush me through the payment process on the grounds that they want to file FAST and then this? If there was some communication, I wouldn't be concerned, but now I am starting to wonder if I am either being screwed OR this office has a great many clients and not nearly enough lawyers and staff.
Don't get me wrong, there are reasons it could be taking so long. First off, the receptionist once said (over a month ago) that all my tax liabilities are making my case more complicated and that's why it is taking so much time. Okay, fine, but then why do I have to keep calling and the lawyer or paralegal NEVER calls me to give me any update? Seems strange to me. Not only that, but every time I do speak to the paralegal, she says, "Oh, we will file in a week or two. We'll call you and have you come in to sign he petition." Problem is she has said this to me every time I have called for the past two months.
So here is a question: Am I worried about nothing? And if my worries are justifyable, at what point do I demand my retainer back and look for another lawyer? I may be nowhere near there yet, but I want to know, if my concerns are justified, at what point do I have to either act or threaten to act? Of course, I don't want to hurt my case or his representation of me, so I am biting my tongue now!
If my concerns are justified, then what recourse do I have? I could certainly call the credit card company and dispute the charge (I use a relative's card for stuff like this and pay them which the lawyer said was all right, by the way). But that is going really far and I would only do that as a last resort.
Hell, I could totally be worried about nothing, and regardless of the attorney's original assertions that we will file soon. I just wanted to get some opinions about this. Certainly I am NOT going to go off half-cocked and potentially ruin my relationship with this attorney if what he is doing, as weird as it seems to me, is normal.
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