OK I hear an awful lot on this site about bad bankruptcy lawyers, and I'm sorry that some of you have run into them, but in every profession has got to be one or two bad apples.
Let me tell you how I handle things in my practice.
First of all, I'm primarily a Chapter 13 lawyer. If a Chapter 7c lient comes in and it's more than your basic chapter 7 case, I run them through the B22C as best as I can and then offer to refer to them to another attorney, who is a Chapter 7 specialist, and also one of my closest friends who I know will not screw over a referral I send him.
In Pennsylvania, most clients do not owe more than their house is worth, so Chapter 13 is a good way to get on track if they have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.
Also, the average mortgage payment by seeing my office is around $1000, so were talking about $10-$15,000 in arrears that needs to be resolved in the Chapter 13 plan.
So this is how a case with LOJK law goes, and I hope you enjoy and learn from the lawyer's perspective of the bankruptcy case.
First of all, no one enters my office because they're in a good situation, so I do my best to make them at ease. If they are unable to make it to my office, I will meet them on neutral territory, such as a Starbucks, close to where they live. I can do this because I don't run a bankruptcy bill, in fact, I limit my caseload to do a good job for my clients.
the first consultation will last about 40 minutes, and while I try to direct the conversation to get the answers I need, I find that my client wants to give a reason as to why they fall behind on their loans and the reason is never because they want to shirk their responsibility.
I think that half the job of the decent bankruptcy attorneys to let the client explain themselves so that they can at least feel better about their situation.
Because I've been at this for years, I can pretty quickly pinpoint what service the client needs in order to save their home or get themselves out of the debt trap that they have found themselves in. This is not to say that every case is the same, I've never had two identical cases, and I don't expect to.
After I explained the options and what I can offer, I then get to the fee arrangement. We are blessed in the East and Middle District because we've been given strict guidelines as to what we charge, so there are lawyers cutting each other off the legs, at least in chapter 13. this is a blessing because it gives me leeway in structuring payment arrangements with the client.
Most people who are being foreclosed on don't have $3500 sitting around to pay a lawyer for legal fees. Generally, I ask for $2000 up front along with the cost of the filing fee, credit counseling one and two, credit report, and due diligence. If that stretches the client, I can be flexible, because I don't take clients I think are not to be able to finish their chapter 13 plan.
Once we have assigned attorney-client agreement and the agreed-upon amount has been paid up front, I pull a credit report, along with the pay stubs and tax returns client provides the together the Chapter 13 case.
The first draft of Chapter 13 case takes about five hours to do. I do it. Not a paralegal, me.
Once the first draft is done, I hand it off to my paralegal to spot check for errors. For the record my paralegal has been with me for four years and when he finishes school and gets admitted to the Eastern District he'll the second best bankruptcy attorney in the Eastern District! Tim usually catches about five mistakes, and those are corrected.
My client comes in and we go over each page of the bankruptcy case together. This meeting takes an hour and half. My client initials each page in the lower right-hand corner and signs where appropriate. I explain the process to my client on how the bankruptcy is going to proceed.
Once my client has reviewed the final draft,another member of my team calls each individual creditor and attempts to get the exact amount owed so it can be put on the schedule D, E or F.
The case is filed and then the waiting game begins. Proofs of claim fly in, 341 meeting is scheduled, and every Thursday I call or email my client with an update on their case.
7 to 10 days prior to the 341 meeting, I have another conference with my client, it takes about an hour and we go through what they're going to run into at the 341 meeting. I also advise a client that the trustee will ask at the end of the 341 meeting if they have any questions, even if they do, the answer to this question is no, I will get the answers for them.
I show up at 341 meeting. Only twice have I had to send an appearance attorney, and if I do, that attorney is going to be on 341 prep call so they can actually represent the client and not just sit there in a suit like an idiot.
After the 341 meeting, it's me who attend confirmation hearings, and it's me who insures with the trustee that the case is moving at an appropriate speed.
When the client gets confirmation, I send a CD ROM with every document from the bankruptcy case burned on it to the client. I also sent the code that they need to contact Money management international to do their second credit counseling and I ask them to do it as soon as possible.
Let me briefly talk about attorney communication, because it seems that that is where most complaints come from, that and incompetence.
I don't answer my phone during the day. I return all phone calls after 4 PM. the only time you will call talk to paralegal on the phone is when scheduling your first consultation.
I do keep my e-mail open. I usually respond to e-mails faster, and they don't leave the office without responding to every e-mail in my box that isn't soliciting me for Viagra.
Every client is given a phone number that goes to the same cell phone that my mom can call me in the event of an emergency. I picked this tip up from Jay Fleischman. they are only to use my personal cell phone in the event of an actual emergency, and if they call me for something other than emergency, I'll never take their call again on my cell phone.
In short, I believe that if you hire me to do your bankruptcy case, it should need me who should be doing the lion's share of the work on the bankruptcy case. It should be me returning your phone calls, I don't need to hide behind paralegals.
Generally speaking, I handle between six and 10 Chapter 13 cases per month, and if I have capacity I take a Chapter 7 here and there, but I haven't in a while but really don't like them.
That means I turn away clients that could use my help. If it ever gets to the point where I'm turning a lot of work away, I'll hire an associate who thinks the way I do.
So if I seem a little defensive of the profession, don't take it personally, I am very defensive of the profession. In a country where Congress and the banks have stacked the decks against the consumer, it's a consumer bankruptcy lawyer who is holding the barbarians the gate. I don't take the responsibility lightly, and I will not stay in the profession if I ever start to feel like it's just a job.
So that is how LOJK Law works, thanks for reading it.
Let me tell you how I handle things in my practice.
First of all, I'm primarily a Chapter 13 lawyer. If a Chapter 7c lient comes in and it's more than your basic chapter 7 case, I run them through the B22C as best as I can and then offer to refer to them to another attorney, who is a Chapter 7 specialist, and also one of my closest friends who I know will not screw over a referral I send him.
In Pennsylvania, most clients do not owe more than their house is worth, so Chapter 13 is a good way to get on track if they have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.
Also, the average mortgage payment by seeing my office is around $1000, so were talking about $10-$15,000 in arrears that needs to be resolved in the Chapter 13 plan.
So this is how a case with LOJK law goes, and I hope you enjoy and learn from the lawyer's perspective of the bankruptcy case.
First of all, no one enters my office because they're in a good situation, so I do my best to make them at ease. If they are unable to make it to my office, I will meet them on neutral territory, such as a Starbucks, close to where they live. I can do this because I don't run a bankruptcy bill, in fact, I limit my caseload to do a good job for my clients.
the first consultation will last about 40 minutes, and while I try to direct the conversation to get the answers I need, I find that my client wants to give a reason as to why they fall behind on their loans and the reason is never because they want to shirk their responsibility.
I think that half the job of the decent bankruptcy attorneys to let the client explain themselves so that they can at least feel better about their situation.
Because I've been at this for years, I can pretty quickly pinpoint what service the client needs in order to save their home or get themselves out of the debt trap that they have found themselves in. This is not to say that every case is the same, I've never had two identical cases, and I don't expect to.
After I explained the options and what I can offer, I then get to the fee arrangement. We are blessed in the East and Middle District because we've been given strict guidelines as to what we charge, so there are lawyers cutting each other off the legs, at least in chapter 13. this is a blessing because it gives me leeway in structuring payment arrangements with the client.
Most people who are being foreclosed on don't have $3500 sitting around to pay a lawyer for legal fees. Generally, I ask for $2000 up front along with the cost of the filing fee, credit counseling one and two, credit report, and due diligence. If that stretches the client, I can be flexible, because I don't take clients I think are not to be able to finish their chapter 13 plan.
Once we have assigned attorney-client agreement and the agreed-upon amount has been paid up front, I pull a credit report, along with the pay stubs and tax returns client provides the together the Chapter 13 case.
The first draft of Chapter 13 case takes about five hours to do. I do it. Not a paralegal, me.
Once the first draft is done, I hand it off to my paralegal to spot check for errors. For the record my paralegal has been with me for four years and when he finishes school and gets admitted to the Eastern District he'll the second best bankruptcy attorney in the Eastern District! Tim usually catches about five mistakes, and those are corrected.
My client comes in and we go over each page of the bankruptcy case together. This meeting takes an hour and half. My client initials each page in the lower right-hand corner and signs where appropriate. I explain the process to my client on how the bankruptcy is going to proceed.
Once my client has reviewed the final draft,another member of my team calls each individual creditor and attempts to get the exact amount owed so it can be put on the schedule D, E or F.
The case is filed and then the waiting game begins. Proofs of claim fly in, 341 meeting is scheduled, and every Thursday I call or email my client with an update on their case.
7 to 10 days prior to the 341 meeting, I have another conference with my client, it takes about an hour and we go through what they're going to run into at the 341 meeting. I also advise a client that the trustee will ask at the end of the 341 meeting if they have any questions, even if they do, the answer to this question is no, I will get the answers for them.
I show up at 341 meeting. Only twice have I had to send an appearance attorney, and if I do, that attorney is going to be on 341 prep call so they can actually represent the client and not just sit there in a suit like an idiot.
After the 341 meeting, it's me who attend confirmation hearings, and it's me who insures with the trustee that the case is moving at an appropriate speed.
When the client gets confirmation, I send a CD ROM with every document from the bankruptcy case burned on it to the client. I also sent the code that they need to contact Money management international to do their second credit counseling and I ask them to do it as soon as possible.
Let me briefly talk about attorney communication, because it seems that that is where most complaints come from, that and incompetence.
I don't answer my phone during the day. I return all phone calls after 4 PM. the only time you will call talk to paralegal on the phone is when scheduling your first consultation.
I do keep my e-mail open. I usually respond to e-mails faster, and they don't leave the office without responding to every e-mail in my box that isn't soliciting me for Viagra.
Every client is given a phone number that goes to the same cell phone that my mom can call me in the event of an emergency. I picked this tip up from Jay Fleischman. they are only to use my personal cell phone in the event of an actual emergency, and if they call me for something other than emergency, I'll never take their call again on my cell phone.
In short, I believe that if you hire me to do your bankruptcy case, it should need me who should be doing the lion's share of the work on the bankruptcy case. It should be me returning your phone calls, I don't need to hide behind paralegals.
Generally speaking, I handle between six and 10 Chapter 13 cases per month, and if I have capacity I take a Chapter 7 here and there, but I haven't in a while but really don't like them.
That means I turn away clients that could use my help. If it ever gets to the point where I'm turning a lot of work away, I'll hire an associate who thinks the way I do.
So if I seem a little defensive of the profession, don't take it personally, I am very defensive of the profession. In a country where Congress and the banks have stacked the decks against the consumer, it's a consumer bankruptcy lawyer who is holding the barbarians the gate. I don't take the responsibility lightly, and I will not stay in the profession if I ever start to feel like it's just a job.
So that is how LOJK Law works, thanks for reading it.
Bankruptcy Wizard
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