Have an appointment

[iupui1299]

Well, I called today and asked for a consultaion with a lawyer. I saw in the phone book a lot of lawyers give free consultations but I was told it would be 200 an hour and it would last about an hour. My questions are....is that a normal price and is a consulation what I need to start with? The lawyer is a co-workers husband so I am hoping that maybe the 200 fee isnt correct.

Also, what does everyone recommend that I bring to this meeting?

Thanks!

[philnk]

should be free.

First meeting should be free. Go to as many attorneys as you like for free initial consults. You will come out of them in the end more confused than before you started. They are all over the place on what they think of your case.

[debtisbad]

Meeting should be free. Have recent paystubs, bills, mortgage, ect. They will tell you whether ch 7 or not. My case is ch 7.

[SinkingFast]

Somebody else had to pay for their Consultation recently. $250. I think it was LostOne. Here's a link to that thread:

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/t7068...-attorney.html

Generally, Consultations are free. We met with 10 different attnys and never paid for a Consultation.

[iupui1299]

I work with this attorney's wife.....I really think he will do a good job for me.

[annikasaunt]

I had a 2 hour consultation with my atty and never paid a cent for it. The first consultation should be free.

[Minnymouth]

Your consultation should be FREE............ especially if his wife is your FRIEND......

Sounds like she's trying to make some "spending money"..... DUH....

Go see other lawyers, why pay one for a consultation that is normally free (if he wants your business)....

Just because he charges for consultations - DOES NOT make him a good attorney.........

Does he charge for consultations BECAUSE he can't get clients????

Something to think about!!!

[SinkingFast]

Definitely see more than ONE attny. You'll get different perspectives and learn lots of different tidbits of info from each one. Even if you decide to go back the first guy, you'll at least know what other services were available.

[iupui1299]

I got a letter from the attorney today. He says the 200 dollars will be used as part of the total lawyer fee.

[Minnymouth]

Yes, he will apply that to your legal fees. That's their way of "hooking" a client......
Charge you for the consultation and apply it towards the retainer........
Get many opinions before you hire one...........

[LostOne0069]

As SinkingFast said, I paid $250 for my last consultation... but I would STRONGLY recommend you see if you can find some attorneys that give free consultations first.

My situation was that the first attorney I went to (free consultation) was basically running a "bankruptcy mill" and really didn't even listen to me about my situation... just looked at my income and said "chapter 13" without even checking to see what my expenses were or if I was below the median income for the state (which I am). I then spent 2 months looking for good attorneys to go to... but I drove by the offices of several before even calling them and all of the "free" ones had shabby offices or looked like a "quickie" mart. I wanted to make sure that my attorney was going to be working for ME and not just trying to pump out as many bk clients with the least amount of effort.

I paid the $250 fee to this attorney and don't regret it for an instant. He's part of a larger firm, which can be a good sign. I worked for a couple of law firms for several years a while back (I'm a computer nerd, not a paralegal or anything else really law related) and I noticed that when you have a "single" attorney, especially one that specialized in bankruptcy, you run a higher risk of him wanting to "pump" clients... meaning do only what is going to get him the highest fee for the least work. A larger firm that has a more diversafied practice area and they need to worry more about their reputation and thus spend more time making sure that they WIN for their clients... not just that they get the last dollar out of their pocket.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling. Bottom line is, make sure you pick an attorney for the right reason... see as many as you can and be willing to pay more for someone who's going to work FOR you rather than just fill out the forms and let the chips fall where they may.

Good Luck!

[SinkingFast]

We tromped around from Consult to Consult. All Free.

Like Lost said, most of the offices looked drab, unkempt, not what you'd expect for an attny's office with the prices they charge.

We were in 3 decent looking offices out of the whole bunch.

1 of the attnys is just a vane sort of person. He likes to look good. His conference table has a mirrorred surface so he can see his own reflection in it. Got the vibe that the guy doesn't do business totally on the up and up. He was an Old Law Reaffirmation abuser. He told us so. Reaffirm at the last possible moment and then revoke it before the 60 days expired. Some people would say that crafty. I think that's one reason the Law was reformed. Abuses like that.

The other 2 nice offices were attnys we wanted to hire. The first one turned us down because she was too busy and she didn't wanna deal with out of state exemptions.

The other guy gave us 2 hours of his time and 2 hours of his paralegal's time prior to hiring him. He charges more, but he's very ethical, and he really knows the law. The paralegal says he has a good working relationship with the Court here and the US Trustee as well.