The importance of a GOOD attorney
I've seen several posts here about how to choose a BK attorney. Here's my 2 cents:
As we all know, there are tons of BK attorneys out there and a lot of them run their business in a way that leaves you feeling like you are on a mass production line. I certainly did with 2 out of the 3 attorneys I interviewed. I even got to the point of asking one of them what his case load was, quite obviously displaying my concern that I would be treated as another number and no amount of detail would be invested in my case.
I ended up choosing an attorney who was the only one that:
1. Did not make my initial free consultation feel rushed, on the clock, etc;
2. Not only answered my follow up questions via email, but explained why he was answering the way he did, and provided answers within reasonable timeframes (overnight);
3. We used a little bit of time to set and clarify expectations of each other, how we worked, how reasonably soon we expected answers, how involved we wanted to be, etc.
4. Personally knows the trustees for my district.
I felt comfortable, treated as a person, and secure that he would have my back.
Well, that was Friday, 7/23, and he kept answering follow up questions via email through 7/28, always timely and always providing the basis or rationale for the answers.
On 8/6 we formally retained him, and asserted our desire (and need due to means test purposes) to file prior to the end of August. Between then and 8/15 I worked with him and the paralegal assigned to me going over documents, numbers, etc. I had most of my paperwork compiled beforehand so that saved a lot of time. I had also requested to be heavily involved. To my surprise, he no longer emailed me overnight, but was responding to my questions within a couple hours. He even checked on a pending issue with me on a Saturday morning!
On 8/16 I received the final draft petition for final review.
On 8/25 we will meet to sign and provide final payment.
On 8/27 he will file. We already have a meeting scheduled on 9/10 to go over preparation for the 341 as he will know by then who the trustee will be (and he knows them personally).
Bottom line, he answered all our questions in a timely manner, dedicated an appropriate amount of attention and detail to us, came to a mutual understanding of how to work with each other prior to retaining. Those were important to us.
Again, just my two cents on our experience and what worked for us.
Good luck to all. We're about to take the plunge!
As we all know, there are tons of BK attorneys out there and a lot of them run their business in a way that leaves you feeling like you are on a mass production line. I certainly did with 2 out of the 3 attorneys I interviewed. I even got to the point of asking one of them what his case load was, quite obviously displaying my concern that I would be treated as another number and no amount of detail would be invested in my case.
I ended up choosing an attorney who was the only one that:
1. Did not make my initial free consultation feel rushed, on the clock, etc;
2. Not only answered my follow up questions via email, but explained why he was answering the way he did, and provided answers within reasonable timeframes (overnight);
3. We used a little bit of time to set and clarify expectations of each other, how we worked, how reasonably soon we expected answers, how involved we wanted to be, etc.
4. Personally knows the trustees for my district.
I felt comfortable, treated as a person, and secure that he would have my back.
Well, that was Friday, 7/23, and he kept answering follow up questions via email through 7/28, always timely and always providing the basis or rationale for the answers.
On 8/6 we formally retained him, and asserted our desire (and need due to means test purposes) to file prior to the end of August. Between then and 8/15 I worked with him and the paralegal assigned to me going over documents, numbers, etc. I had most of my paperwork compiled beforehand so that saved a lot of time. I had also requested to be heavily involved. To my surprise, he no longer emailed me overnight, but was responding to my questions within a couple hours. He even checked on a pending issue with me on a Saturday morning!
On 8/16 I received the final draft petition for final review.
On 8/25 we will meet to sign and provide final payment.
On 8/27 he will file. We already have a meeting scheduled on 9/10 to go over preparation for the 341 as he will know by then who the trustee will be (and he knows them personally).
Bottom line, he answered all our questions in a timely manner, dedicated an appropriate amount of attention and detail to us, came to a mutual understanding of how to work with each other prior to retaining. Those were important to us.
Again, just my two cents on our experience and what worked for us.
Good luck to all. We're about to take the plunge!
341 hearing Aug 12, 2010 
Trustee's report of no distribution Aug 20, 2010 
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