Attorney wants to charge a fee

[SCORPIO07]

Hello All,

I am in the process of looking for a BK Attorney and was wondering if it is normal for them to charge a fee for consultation? I have talked to 2 so far and they are not charging but I have 1 who wants to charge $25.00.


Thanks

[HeatherB]

I would not go to someone who charged a consultation fee. However, I do understand why they do it. It's easy to go to an attorney and grill him with questions for an hour and then leave only to go to someone who charges less for the actual service. In this case, it is a waste of the attorney's time. I would assume that the fee was to only get clients who are serious about filing and not just curious about it. I would also assume that if I had to pay a consultation fee, it would be somehow refunded in the end (or put toward the balance to retain the attorney.)

But I, personally, would not pay a consultation fee.

[JollyGG]

Normally I would say there are plenty of lawyers that don't charge a fee for the initial consultaion. So, find ones that don't. However, $25 is really not that much and if you have a good feeling about that one might be worth it.

[SCORPIO07]

Thanks for the reply...I am going to meet with him on Monday morning.


Thanks again...

[danaf]

i wouldn't pay a consultation fee and personally i think an attorney that asks for one in this type of situation is a jerk. 25 isn't that much but for some really struggling, it is. and it's just the principle of it. i think it stinks.

[lrprn]

I'll probably get slammed for this, but keep in mind lawyers have families to raise and bills to pay too. Did your medical doctor give you a free exam on your first visit to the office???

Bankruptcy lawyers have one of the lowest pay scales for lawyers across the profession. Most come to a consumer bankruptcy practice because they want to help people, not make a pile of money.

I think $25 is a very reasonable request considering how much we filers learn from our initial lawyer visits.

Frankly I think it's amazing that so many bk lawyers don't charge a penny for their initial consultation with us. And I certainly wouldn't rule out seeing a lawyer that did ask for a little something in return for their expertise. YMMV and that's ok.

[slg1234]

I was charged like $40 for mine. If I ended up filing with her than it was credited towards the total cost for filing...If not..she kept it. I didn't think it was such a bad deal.