Questions to ask potential BK attorneys?

[niteflytes]

From advice on this forum I plan to "interview" several attorneys before I decide on one. Any advice on questions to ask, information to take, and red flags to watch out for? I imagine this has been asked before but the search feature on this board is limited and I can't find anything useful. Thanks

Cat~

[StaciMM]

Ask about exemptions for your state, requirements for your district, what to expect for the overall process. Discuss your situation, such when/why your most recent charges happened, any assets you have, etc. If the attorney doesn't seem interested in answering your questions, that would be a major red flag IMO. Just like a doctor-they should be willing to invest time in you.

[Viper]

This may seem obvious but find out what the lawyers rates are, but more importantly what is "included" in his fee. Also find out what the fees are for extra services. Extras may include reaffirmation agreements, objection settlements, and adversary proceedings.

Another important topic is time line. Be sure that the lawyer you hire understands your needs in regards of when you need to file, and be sure that they can file your case in a timely matter.

One experience I had with one law firm is I made an appointment for an initial consultation and they weren't able to see me for 3 weeks, I agreed. Two days before the scheduled meeting they called me and said the attorney would not be in the office and they needed to reschedule, which I agreed to. One week later and one day before the rescheduled meeting they called once again to inform me they were to busy to take my case at that time and wanted to postpone the meeting for another month. Needless to say I told them where then can go, but I learned a valuable lesson, too make sure the lawyer is able to meet my needs and file in a timely matter.


One other piece of advice I can offer is, try to find a lawyer who is in a small town rather then a city. This may mean a little extra driving on your part, but I've found that lawyers that are in less populated areas tend to charge less. Where I live I found the difference to be around $300. Of course this will vary by location, but it certainly doesn't hurt to look around.


-Viper

[niteflytes]

I'm going to compile a list of questions to ask when I interview attorneys for my own reference but I'd be happy to share it when I'm done...unless it's already been done and I just can't find it on here.

[SinkingFast]

You might ask how long they've been practicing and how many cases they've filed. That one is a easy one to verify on PACER.

BKFiler also suggested calling back later to ask an extra question or 2, just to see how the attny responds. I've done that and we got dumped by one. Called and asked one question and got an answer. Then said I also needed to know what to do about something else while I had them on the phone. Got put on hold for a very long time. Then I was told the attny did not want to take the case. She was too busy, didn't want to fool with outa state exemptions, and said we should look for another attny.

So, we'd always ask, at the end of the Consult, "Can we call back with further questions?" If they say yes, then we do. Just to see what kind of reaction we get.