Issues with BK attorney - Is this behavior common?

[onthebrink]

A few weeks ago I interviewed a couple of BK attorneys. I did the initial free consultation. I picked the one I liked and set up a second meeting so my wife could meet her. We paid $300 for the meeting, which she said would be applied to her overall fee. I had no issue with that since we were taking her time. During that meeting we agreed to retain her. She said she would send the means test form and the retainer fee agreement the next day. Didn't hear back for three business days so emailed her to ask her when she would be sending over the form and agreement. She emailed me back "thanking" me for reminding her and included the documents. We completed the means test form and sent it to her and told her we were mailing the check. Didn't hear anything back for a few business days, so emailed her to ask by when she would expect to get back to us with the results of the means test, and also stated that based on her lack of response it either appeared that she was extremely busy or not interested in our case. She emailed me back within 5 minutes and replied "I have you on my list of things to do. It's not that I don't want your case. I just have very urgent matters that require my attention at the moment." Then 15 minutes later she emails me that we passed the means test and that we could file April 1. She included a 35-page questionnaire and list of documents we need to assemble.

I emailed her last night saying that we are in the process of completing the forms and collecting the documents and would like to meet with her or her partner to discuss some concerns I have about filing and ask a few questions about the process. I included a list of concerns and questions we would like to discuss. We are in a situation where if we do file we need to do so by the beginning of April to qualify for Ch7 so we need counsel now.

This is the MOST important financial decision my wife and I need to make and we want to make sure we get legal counsel on what to do and how to do it. We also want to learn from the attorney's experience about how cases like ours fare in the local district.

This is such a personal matter but I feel like I am getting the most impersonal treatment. I read other posts where people say "I met with my BK attorney today". Right now I'm feeling like this is an automated process. Fill out the forms, have the attorney file, and then show up at the 341 meeting and hope the attorney is there.

Is it unreasonable for me to want to meet with the attorney in person at this stage in the process?

[nerves]

I don't think so. We had an hour initial consult on a Wed and the following Saturday we met and retained. He spent another hour and a half with us. He also met with our bankers. Our case may have been a little more complex due to closing a business, but still you are paying for their services. He didn't charge us anything extra and he had quite a bit more leg work to do than the normal bk situation.

But, if you look at from the other point of view, you know that they make the hot items a priority which I think you would want if your case ends up with any urgent matters.

JMO.

Nerves

[kornellred]

Your urgency should have been the very first thing that you discussed with her. She would have considered your situation, and based upon it's validity, accepted your case on a time-sensitive basis or recommend that you seek help elsewhere. If you were candid and left nothing out, and it did not leave her with the same sense of urgency that you apparently have, then chances are your urgency is not valid. Debtors do not get to set deadlines on the progress of bankruptcy proceedings, even pre-filing proceedings.

[momofthree]

Our attorney required that we fill out the questionaire and gather all of our documents (literally hundreds of pages!) before the initial consultation so that he could give us 100% accurate info relating to our case.

IMO, you need to get all your paperwork to her ASAP if you want to file ASAP, and then at that point, she will be able to fully and accurately answer all of your questions and concerns. You've already had 2 meetings with her, right? The initial consultation, and then the additional consultation with your wife present?

Is she refusing to set up an appointment for you to go over all of your paperwork? That would be a major problem, but if she just wants to wait until you have all of your paperwork ready, then I think that's quite reasonable. If she's a good attorney, I'm sure she has a large caseload of clients that she has to juggle, and those with their paperwork in order will be a higher priority than someone who just wants to ask questions that can easily be answered thru email or over the phone.

[blessed]

I deal with the paralegal, who might as well be an attorney, she's awesome. (I know some aren't so great out there) But she keeps telling me, I'll go as fast as you want to go. But that also meant I had to do my homework. If she's wanting you to come in with ALL your paperwork, do it. I have a lined piece of paper with all my questions on the top of my stack of file folders, put post-its on pages if you want.

I did have to call her and ask a couple questions to clarify what she was needing and it took a day for her to call me back. They are busy people and I'm not the only client.

It does seem like she's too busy to deal with how urgent you'd like this process to be. You'll just have to stay on top of things I guess and if you are detailed she should be able to handle everything more quickly than if you're not.

Oh, and if I hadn't paid in full and attend the next meeting and don't file, I would have to pay $250 for their time. So that makes plenty of sense.

[onthebrink]

Thank you, everyone. This helps put things in perspective. I just heard back from her and she is available to meet on Monday. She will charge me $300 for the visit, which is fine because I am sensitive to her time. I also had a business and am mostly concerned about getting pushed into a Ch 13.

Bottomline, I just want to better understand: a) why she is confident that we will qualify for Ch 7, which she has said via email that we will and b) possible complications that might arise. I also need to make some decisions regarding IRAs. Part of the problem is that I am nervous that she is not sufficiently experienced to handle our case given I had a c-corp. I maybe over-thinking it and all my fears may be unfounded but I am not going to take the most important financial decision of my life over email and need to get more comfortable that she has experience handling cases like ours.

I am disappointed that if I paid $800 in retainer that she would not be more accommodating about meeting but, ultimately, I just want to be better informed.

Thank you - will keep you posted.