Fire my attorney?

[bcvw]

I first made contact with the attorney I retained to handle my CH13 case 5 months ago today. He impressed me with the time he took (45 mns) to answer my questions the first time I called him. The face to face interview was held July 1 and I paid a 1/4 fee retainer. I followed this up with the amount required to file a week later.

We decided to file on Oct 1 to allow time to pass since the last usage of the credit cards.

He missed the target date for filing. He claimed he was a week behind.

Since then, he has made excuse after excuse why we haven't prepared my schedules or petition. He claims the phone rings non-stop and he has little help. He answers his phone himself. He has made promise dates over and over, only to miss them and not even call.

I came to find out he is listed on our state's delinquent tax violators to the tune of over $30K. Apparently, I did not do enough due diligence before hiring him.

I called yesterday and said I had lost all confidence in his ability to represent me, that we needed to move forward, and I want a refund of the retainer and filing fee I paid him. He said that was an option, but requested I give him until Thursday to come up with a schedule to complete our filing.

5 months have now passed and in another month our pre-BK education certificates expire to the tune of $100.

What would you do come Thursday and he doesn't call back?

[ready2puke]

Wow Im so sorry this guy sounds really unreliable to the point of being unstable. Get your money back asap. If he wont give it to you tell him your going to file a complaint with the state bar assoc and take the guy to small claims court.. Stop monkeying around with this joker and get a professional to take your case..What a jerk...
I lost 200 when I filed the attorney that I hired, but he never did anything for me and never returned calls. Luckily I wrote him a check for part of it and stopped payment on it and still lost the 200. The info this guy gave me would of landed me in jail so I guess its a small price to pay.. good luck and get that money back..Your never going to feel safe with this guy will you???

[soleprop]

ugh yeah. and report this guy to the state BAR assoc.

[Flamingo]

Call your State Bar Association (located in your phone book under the "State" section), tell them the situation and they can help you with what to do and assist you in recommending another attorney. Best of luck to you. Just like in any barrel, there is a bad apple or pickle.

[cool33097]

I would report him no matter what. He is unreliable. How can you trust him o handle the rest of your paper work? you can't. He hasn't started. I would definetely fire him.

[liz417]

I would definately run...do not let this attorney represent you!!!

File a complaint with the State Bar, good luck!

[bcvw]

Update:

For the first time EVER, the attorney actually met a commitment. He called me yesterday as he said he would on Monday.

He has the filing ready and just needed some paystubs from me to finalize things. I asked if he had used the budget and creditor matrix I handed off to him last month and he didn't know.

Anyway, I told him I'd slide the above info under his door this morning and he said he'd have the filing ready for me to pick up and look at over the weekend at 4 today.

I'll be spending a lot of time going through the docs to check for errors.

With any luck, it will be minimal and we can file next week.

[liz417]

Great news! I'd look over those papers with a fine tooth comb!

good Luck!

[soleprop]

update?

[AngelinaCat]

Update:

For the first time EVER, the attorney actually met a commitment. He called me yesterday as he said he would on Monday.

He has the filing ready and just needed some paystubs from me to finalize things. I asked if he had used the budget and creditor matrix I handed off to him last month and he didn't know.

Anyway, I told him I'd slide the above info under his door this morning and he said he'd have the filing ready for me to pick up and look at over the weekend at 4 today.

I'll be spending a lot of time going through the docs to check for errors.

With any luck, it will be minimal and we can file next week.

Dear bcvw:

PLEASE Do NOT trust what this turkey is telling you. You need to fire him and move on. Please trust me on this matter. Here are some threads of our original postings expressing our dissatisfactions with our damned stupid attorney:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=25506

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=27071

Those are our thoughts about firing our attorney. Search both our names; AngelinaCat and AngelinaCatHub for our full history.

You do not want to get sucked into the mess we were. We originally started as a Ch 13 also, but could not when I lost my FT job.

We hired our turkey lawyer Aug. 2006, did not file until Dec. 28 2007, as a Ch 7. Then we had a Rule 2004(b) Examination in May 2008.

Please research our names and threads for further information. I am a Reference Librarian. All I can do is to point you to our original posts and information. I don't wish to bore the membership by reiterating what has been posted before.

Good luck. PLEASE get another lawyer, or purchase the Nolopress books and do it yourself. There are many guides here and many members that has successfully done both Ch 7s and Ch 13s.

Again, Good luck to you.

[bcvw]

As it is, I will not be able to get back the money I've paid him already. I don't have the means to start over nor the patience. Thanks for the concern, duly noted.

I've learned a lot in the past 6 months about CH13, enough to challenge everything he's entered in my paperwork. I've made the decision to basically use him to represent me and file the petition, but I won't file until I am happy with what is in the package.

I seriously marked up his paperwork over the weekend, correcting glaring errors and omissions. He seemed stuck on meeting the number in the means test when I picked up the packet on Friday, and reluctant to vary much from that as a monthly payment. I made it clear that I can substantiate and justify the expenses I have. I even found that he left out payroll taxes, union dues, life insurance, etc. in the means test document, that alone dropped the projected DMI by hundreds of dollars. I dropped my mark ups off yesterday morning and am meeting with him later today. I fully expect to argue a lot of points with him.

[liz417]

As it is, I will not be able to get back the money I've paid him already. I don't have the means to start over nor the patience. Thanks for the concern, duly noted.

I've learned a lot in the past 6 months about CH13, enough to challenge everything he's entered in my paperwork. I've made the decision to basically use him to represent me and file the petition, but I won't file until I am happy with what is in the package.

I seriously marked up his paperwork over the weekend, correcting glaring errors and omissions. He seemed stuck on meeting the number in the means test when I picked up the packet on Friday, and reluctant to vary much from that as a monthly payment. I made it clear that I can substantiate and justify the expenses I have. I even found that he left out payroll taxes, union dues, life insurance, etc. in the means test document, that alone dropped the projected DMI by hundreds of dollars. I dropped my mark ups off yesterday morning and am meeting with him later today. I fully expect to argue a lot of points with him.

Who does your attorney work for? YOU!! It's so sad how you have to fight to prove your expenses. Keep on top of your attorney and keep us updated!

Good Luck!

[bcvw]

I am really going to lose it with this guy. He asked me for the mortgage filing on our house yesterday.

I reminded him he already had that, he sent me to the courthouse the day we first met with him, and I had dropped the documents off with him the same day. Nope, can't find them, he says.

So off I go again and pay again to get copies of the damn mortgage. 2 hours round trip. I made sure that he put these in my file this time.

This is after he lost the budget information and creditor matrix I dropped off a couple months ago when he was close to our intended filing date. I thought it was odd that the amounts on my I and J were so far off. Turns out he was working from preliminary figures and not the firm numbers I provided him. That's what I spent most of the weekend doing, comparing my real numbers with the crap he entered. Ironically, he did find the check that was with that stuff I dropped off as he cashed it promptly.

Oh yeah, he also didn't credit me as paying him in full, the check I spoke of above was the final payment. I had to give him a copy of the canceled check to prove he had been paid.

I feel like I'm doing a pro se!

He also said my 401k loan would have to be paid from within the plan so the trustee would get a cut of it. I find this hard to believe as it is a payroll deduction and there is no way my 401k plan allows for outside payment. Any thoughts on this?

[bcvw]

*sigh*

On the latest Schedule I he submitted to me, income is now understated $500/mo. Math error on his part. He left off our life insurance and disability deductions. Back and forth we go. I seriously think this guy has never filed a successful CH13.

If it weren't for losing the $2K, I'd move on. The best I can do now is to keep looking at everything over and over and become VERY involved.

[liz417]

Agghhh!! So sorry BCVW. If I were you, I would be soooo worried, you and this guy (attorney) are going to be "attached at the hip" for 3-5 years...can you find another attorney willing to roll your ch 13 attorney fees into your plan? It would decrease your DMI and ease up the stress you have with your current attorney. Think about it...

Take care and good luck