How did you find your attorney?

[longhaul]

First Googled & went to websites the law offices had to find out as much about them as possible. Made a short list. Before making any decisions, checked with trusted relative & got names of 2 lawyers - one the family had used and one a family friend had used in the past. Both names were also on my short list. Had free consults with both. One I did not care for his "bedside" manner, the other I liked a lot, but handled Ch 7 only. Knew we probably would have to go Ch 13, so this lawyer recommended an associate that specialized in Ch 13. Had a telephone consult with lawyer's legal assistant & had very good rapport with her, so set up consult with lawyer & again felt so much better about our situation. This lawyer has been in busines 20+ years & with the specialization in Ch 13, I felt she would know her stuff, and she did.

[martin001]

Best wayz

1. The internet

The internet is one of the best sources to get the best lawyer for you. The reason why the internet is the best place to get the best legal representation for you is because you can search for specific lawyers who specialises in specific law areas. For instance, if you are in the proceeding for a workers compensation claim, then it is best to go to search on the internet for a workers compensation lawyer who specialises in this area. They have the experience and the legal expertise to get the best compensation for you!

2. Find lawyers who have won a large percentage of cases

It is best to find lawyers who have won a majority of their cases. This is because you will then have a higher chance of winning because they have won a majority of their cases. People who have won a large percentage of their cases means that they know how to find all the loopholes in the law. The more loopholes the lawyer knows, the better you can win your case!

3. Find a lawyer who can communicate with you in easy to understand English

You will be surprised to find that the majority of lawyers out there have very poor English or communication skills. To win a case, a lawyer must have excellent communication skills so they can give the best evidence and argument for your case! A simple way to know if they have good communication skill is if they can explain a legal document in easy to understand English and they don't use legal or law language that you don't understand!

[BeBejEY]

I am looking for a GREAT BK LAWYER! Are there any signs I should look out for to spot a scam of a lawyer? Thanks!

[empowered]

I went to the Nolo website, selected one that sounded good and went with them.

This was a mistake. Firstly, as much as I respect Nolo, I'm not sure that they do (or should be expected to do) much more than ensure that the attorneys listed on their site have passed the bar, if that. I haven't checked again. I saw a thread about interviewing attorneys on this list and that sounds like a better idea though it wasn't until I was thoroughly committed to the one that I realized it was a mistake.

Part of the problem may have been that I thought I could hand off responsibility for my well being within the bankruptcy process to an attorney and found that having an attorney is no substitute for knowledge about the process. They may not tell you things that most don't care about or that would take too much time to tell you, they may not point you to free Web resources that would discourage you from using them or go out of their way to advise you on changing circumstances in your case (like, if you, like me, filed bankruptcy in one state knowing you'd be moving to another after the filing) and how those circumstances could affect your options down the road. They may also not like it if you ask too many questions. Mine did not and quickly became defensive and nasty.

A lot of the problem, however, could not be detected until after I had already retained them and invested ample time going down the Chapter 13 road with my trust ill-placed in their hands. This is when there was obvious errors, inaccurate answers to questions, and rudeness.

Anyway, I'd say interview and ask lots of questions about how long it will take your paperwork to work its way through their office. If they have staffing issues, for example, will that affect you like it did me? My attorneys also became nasty when I went in to sign the paperwork and wanted to think about it over the weekend -- you'd think that an attorney would like to have a client to actually considered things before signing but they were probably afraid I wouldn't sign. Anyway, for whatever reason, they said that no one else had ever wanted to think about it and got kind of nasty about it. I think they wanted to make sure they got their money through the Chapter 13 installments. They also sent the final copies of my paperwork to a complete stranger whose name I don't know but who was able to read a lot about me. And so on and so forth....

Interview and take care to learn as much as possible so that you know what to look for. An office that functions well would be a good thing.

[discouraged]

I found mine when I consulted with my city's foreclosure prevention office. They are funding a financial consultant for me and she sent me to the lawyer. I trust their judgement as they are city-funded (not the lawyer unfortunately) and have to abide by strict rules and procedures.

[LadyInTheRed]

My attorneys also became nasty when I went in to sign the paperwork and wanted to think about it over the weekend -- you'd think that an attorney would like to have a client to actually considered things before signing but they were probably afraid I wouldn't sign. Anyway, for whatever reason, they said that no one else had ever wanted to think about it and got kind of nasty about it.

Wow! Sounds like a lousy attorney for this reason only. I'm a paralegal in another area of law and often send clients documents that are ten pages or more and say "please review this carefully and call me with any questions or revisions. If it's satisfactory please sign and return to me." I'm always concerned if I get an email 5 or 10 minutes later with a PDF of the signed document. When clients come to the office to sign, I always leave them alone to read the document, then come back and go through it with them, even if I sent them the document before the meeting. I once had a client ask questions about a sentence in a document that didn't make any sense. This was a form document we had used for many clients for a couple of years. The person who last edited that section made a mistake and nobody ever caught it because it is not a part of the document that gets edited for each client. It was embarrassing and scary to think how many clients signed that document without asking the same question. It just shows how many people either don't read the document or don't ask questions when they don't understand everything. Rather than getting an attitude with the client who caught the error, I apologized, thanked her for bringing it to my attention and told her I was glad to see she was reviewing everything closely.

Please, if anyone ever feels rushed to sign something you haven't fully reviewed and understand, stand firm no matter how much they pressure you. Tell them "Before I sign under penalty of perjury, I'm going to make sure everything is correct."

[Logan]

I found mine in the newspaper. I also consulted one a friend recommended but liked the newspaper guy better.

Logan

[BeBejEY]

Okay! Thanks You Guys...all the information is really helpful....I found this lawyer...I met with her and she seemed very thorough...I asked her how long she had been doing BK cases she said for 5 years and then she told me about other places she worked and what she did....she has a lot of background with law...and her husband is a trustee! I felt comfortable with her the only thing that concerned me is her fee for doing the BK case...She is only charging me $400...she stated to me that it was because of my current financial problems..with me not working and only having my financial aid checks to live off of....Hmmm! What do you guys think? Should I trust it? How bad can things turn if I choose to go with her to handle my case? The price is right...especially with funds being a lot on the funny side...I figure as long as I stay on top of her and make sure that she does everything like she is suppose to I will be fine...I am filing a chapter 7...and I figure that it shouldn't be any problems....ADVICE WOULD BE NICE!!! Thank you guys! Also...Let me mention...that she pulled my credit report...and the past lawyers that I have met with didn't do that...they didn't even mention it...I don't know...Please help me!

[funcritter]

No choice in the poll for me.

I previously used the attorney for a previous BK in 1997.

[punkin81]

My mother in law sells insurance to a couple who went through bk, she asked the girl if I could call her with questions. The girl agreed and let me know that several friends and family were facing similar situations and that they all used our current lawyer with successful discharges. I'm finding that the more I talk about my situation I find that other people have gone through bk's in their past. And if my MIL would not have talked with her client about her situation I would have never known about our lawyer. Word of mouth is powerful.

[Katrina1978]

I'm new to this forum and have really enjoyed all the great information available in this forum!

My husband and I filed for Chapter 7 in July and we just had our 341 the 20th of August, so now we are just waiting for the discharge notice.

Anyway, our lawyer search wasn't very complicated, but I was trying to search for options to help get out of the debt hole we were in. I put my information on a random bankruptcy site and they matched me with a lawyer in my area. She called me originally and over the phone she helped me determine if we might be qualified or not. A couple of weeks after the phone consult we met with her in person and hired her. She was extremely helpful to us and as soon as we hired her I instantly felt better. She was a great help in preparing us for the 341 meeting and is always available if I have any questions. We are probably pretty low maitenance when it comes to attention, but the lawyer we chose worked out the best for us, and we didn't feel we needed to shop around.

[lawyersearch]

I had to shop around because every BK Lawyer charges differently, so just do your research before making a decision.

[tyson24]

I consulted with 5 attorneys, from big names and 2 page ads in the phone book to the smallest ad. I chose the smallest ad. He was not the cheapest, but he was the most attentive. Did not just tell me BS and what I wanted to hear, he told me the facts as he saw them. He has been a wealth of information. Not the MOST pleasant personality, but if he let me talk for 3 hours in his office, I would. And for attorneys, time is money. He gets straight to the point.

I really think he wants me to shut up.

[shockingpink]

We had a consultation with a local BK attorney who, it turned out, was very close to the owner of a car dealership that we had a repo on - conflict of interest. So, he gave us the names of a couple other attorneys and we asked for his opinion. He said the one he most highly recommended was one of the best but could be abrasive at times - no hand-holding involved. That's the one we went with and after our 341 meeting, we never talked to him again. Our case was very cut and dry with no problems. We were discharged in 2008.

[johnjan2009]

this is good info, thanks!