Pacer and My Atty.

[southernbelle]

If I'm interested in checking out my atty. to see what his stats are on Pacer, what are some useful tips so that I don't run up an astronomical bill. The first/last time I used Pacer, my bill was about $20 and I didn't get anything useful to show for it and he user tutorial was Greek to me.

Is there anyway to watch him and how the process works in BK court? Can I just show up or is it only for people with pending cases?

[HHM]

PACER is not really set up for that kind of research. Personally, I think trying to research attorneys via PACER is a waste of time and money. About the only info that you get of value is when you plug in their name, if more than 100 cases pop-up, then you know the attorney has some experience. Other than that, the outcome of BK cases is "mostly" determined by the circumstances of the individuals filing BK, and not the quality or lack thereof of their attorney.

About all you can do is do a search by attorney, which will probably bring many billable pages, and then every click into a case is a billable page, and click into a document or new section of a case is billable, so on and so forth.

As with any court, most proceedings are open to the public.

You have to realize, short of an adversarial proceeding or an objection that actually sees the inside of a court room, nothing really happens "in court" for which an attorney is present. So just randomly showing up to court is not that instructive.

If you really want to go watch something, go watch some 341 meetings. Generally, 341 meetings are held at the same time, in the same place, and on the same day(s) each week.

[southernbelle]

Thank you. I will call or check online to find out when the 341's are held at the courthouse in my area so that I can sit in on a few of them. It might help me to relax when it's my turn. Thanks again.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Southernbelle, I used PACER to do a lot of research... but I did it at the courthouse, where PACER access is free to the public.

One thing you want to look out for when you pop in your atty's name is how many *dismissals* he's gotten, and of all the cases he has filed what % are dismissals? I forget exactly how I entered this (sorry, I'd love to tell you ) but it was immediately apparent after I put in an atty's name: page after page of his cases, the closed date, the status (I'm pretty sure that's where I saw what was dismissed and what was discharged) all in three lines like the results of a google search.

Anyway, with all due respect to HHM I personally think you can learn as much as you want to know, IF you can get in a place with free PACER access so that you're free to think through your search terminology without having to wonder what every page is going to cost. Plan on spending an afternoon, and bring pencil/paper so you can take notes and save case #s for pulling up later. There are schools with free PACER access as well. What you could do is call the bankruptcy clerk and ask if there's any way you can look at local cases (open ended like that) and see what they say. Good luck!!!

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Oh yeah, P.S. -- if you have already filed and know who your trustee is, ask the bankruptcy clerk when *his* 341's are held. For instance, mine has his every Thursday, both sessions. That way you can show up and see your own trustee in action. Also, business casual attire will allow you to blend well. Good luck!!!