Does size really matter?

[Crozier]

I spoke to a large firm lawyer and a private practice lawyer today. I received surprisingly different responses. The private practice Atty was very attentive, confident, and calm. She said my case was "no problem," even given my relatively high wages (although not very, for SoCal). The larger firm Atty, seemed more like a salesman. His information was essentially the same as the means test I took online, and he wanted to explain the costs first, not really the specifics of my case. I may be biased, because of the first impression experience, however, it made me think: Are larger firms less effective because they are so large, and do smaller firms get taken seriously by the court? Any info on this subject would be great?

[justbroke]

You have just explained why Bankruptcy Mills are not good for everyone.

I would think that the larger firms -- usually Bankruptcy Mills -- cater to more of the "no look" simple, no-asset cases. They follow the Wal*Mart model... volume.

A boutique or smaller firm will seem more attentive, caring, and show more concern for your case as an individual. Their costs may be higher, but they are willing to fight for you as an individual.

[HHM]

It really depends.

You really need to ask specifically how your case is handled. Larger firms have more attorneys, so if they are set up correctly, an attorney is likely to spend more time with your case than an attorney at s small firm. Not all larger firms are BK mills. In fact, BK mills are only profitable with fewer attorneys.

Think of it this way, if a 3 attorney firm is doing 30 cases a month, that means each attorney is handling 10 cases per month. If a solo attorney is doing 30 cases a month, how much time do you really think that attorney devotes to your case.

There are few general conclusions you can draw about big vs little. But, in my opinion, I think the 1 or 2 attorney firms in BK charge too much for you get...a paralegal that does nearly all the work with maybe a total investment of attorney time of 1 hour.

[2manybills]

At the end of the day, it comes to how you feel with the attorney. I've seen both situations. After more than 30 years working in the California legal community, I have worked for both large firms, medium firms and small firms. Some large firms are so well known, just their name gets things done. On the other hand, especially in BK, I'm not sure how fine tuned they would be to your individual needs.

Go with who makes you feel most confident about your particular situation.