HELP! scared in Tennessee

[ohnoyadidna]

I too am in need of a good Bk attorney. I am in west TN. I would have to file in Jackson.

[tiredmimi]

Unfortunately, I still have not found an attorney. My husband and I did consult with 1 at one of those bk mills, and were not happy with our visit. We are way over the median income, and was told we would need to file 13. The monthly allowance for us to live on was only a little over a thousand a month for both of us. That would be to pay electric, grocery, utlilities, transportation, and everything. There is no way we could do that even on a tight budget, we both commute to work. I don't think anyone who is making those rules has been to the grocery store. He also said we could not count my daughter and grandkids as an allowance, even though they live with us, we pay all of their expenses, daycare ect. My daughter is a full time college student. I don't know what we are going to do at this point. I still have not found an attorney, I did not get the feeling the attorney we visited would do anything to fight our case in any way, he would just go by the book leaving it impossible for us to live. I would rather at this point file 7, and give up all assets, and start over but that is not an option because of our income.

[ohnoyadidna]

That's not right. It's about 900 a month for a two person household for food, clothing, entertainment, etc.. which doesn't count utilities. I don't know who you saw but they are total idiots.

there are web sites on the net that will give you a fair idea of what things will be under chapter 13. A good attorney can help fudge things a little more. I too am looking for that attorney. If I was back in IL I would have one but now that i'm in TN.. I'm SOL!

We aren't far from each other so when I find a good one i'll pass the info on to you.

[sparkie]

Hey Tired Mimi,

I'm sorry to read through all the troubles that you've had, and I can certainly relate the the "deer in the headlights" feeling that being new to bankruptcy can give one. There are a lot of new words, language and concepts to learn, aren't there.

There is one concrete thing that I can do to help ... make a referral. In Nashville, I think that you'd be hard pressed to find a better bankruptcy attorney than Edgar Rothschild. He's handled bankruptcy and related legal matters in the past for several business associates of mine and is currently handling my sister's bankruptcy (it's my sister's bankruptcy that first brought me to the bankruptcy forums). Here's his address and contact info:

Edgar Meyer Rothschild III
Rothschild & Ausbrooks, PLLC
1222 16th Ave. South, Suite 12
Nashville, TN 37212-2926
Toll Freee: (866) 656-8909
Phone: (615) 866-2265
Fax: (615) 242-2003

http://www.rothschildbklaw.com/

Of course, I think it's only fair to add as a caveat that your mileage may vary, here. Finding a good attorney is as much about building a relationship as it is an absolute matter of finding the best of the best out there. If you meet with Rothschild or a member of his firm and don't hit it off (if fact, you may have met with him already!), then there are resources available to help you find quality representation.

For finding an attorney, I can't under-recommend the old fashioned yellow pages. The Nashville Bar Association also has a referral service. I think they charge a small fee to get a list of three attorneys, however. The Nashville Bar Association's home page is http://www.nashvillebar.org/. Martindale Hubble (a lawyer directory used mostly by lawyers) can also be helpful: http://www.martindale.com/.

Whichever resource you use, be sure to set up more than just one initial consultation. Also, be sure to pick an attorney who is board certified by the Tennessee Bar as a bankruptcy specialist. There are good bankruptcy attorneys out there who are not board certified as bankruptcy specialists, of course. The certification tests and standards are pretty rigorous. However, since it's an option (not every state bar association offers a specialty certification program), it seems unwise not to avail yourself of it - especially given that you don't already have an attorney with whom you have an established relationship in mind.

Finally, just as a triple safety check, you can go online and check the disciplinary record of your prospective attorney at http://www.tbpr.org/Consumers/AttorneySearch/. This is a directory maintained by the Tennessee Bar Association. I wouldn't say that the presence of a disciplinary action would automatically make me decide against hiring a particular attorney, but it would serve as a red flag.

Good luck, and I hope this helps!