My opinion on hiring an attorney for your chapter 13 case

[ariesfire]

1. If you do not have a copy of the fee agreement and since the attny appears to be non-responsive, there would be nothing wrong with you showing up at his office to get a copy.

2. I would agree that taking steps to "finalize" the bk so that a discharge can be entered is part of the attny's duties. In my district, once payments are completed and the Trustee files his notice of completed case 2 things must be done. The debtor must take that second credit counseling class and get the Certificate to me for filing and the debtor must sign a form stating that he/she is entitled to a Chapter 13 discharge. Once I see the notice of completed case, I typically send out the form with a cover letter to sign and return it to me along with the Certificate for that second course (if the second course had not been previously done). The time it takes for me to do this last bit of "work" is minimal and I usually book it at "no charge" (we bill hourly).

3. Yes, the attny is in it for the "long hall" so long as he/she is "attorney of record" but that does not necessarily mean post Confirmation work goes "uncompensated". It just depends upon the fee agreement which not only should state when the representation "ends", it should also state exactly what tasks the fees paid cover.

Des.

I do not believe there will be a problem and he will do what is required. I am also aware of the financial course we must take, and the doc. for domestic payment statement. We are letting it(chapter13) run it's course now and I do not expect to hear from my attorney unless we hit a snag. I appreciate that attorneys do not work pro bono and I have always been ready to pay him more fees if required. Just trying to avoid problems, it seems anxiety is more acute at this point.

[despritfreya]

if the work requested is actually a plan modification to begin with, then in theory it should be easy to include the attorney fee in that, correct?

goon,

Yes I would imagine most attnys would put the fees into the modification. When doing modified plans we will see where our post confirmation fees are and then, unless the client wants otherwise, simply incorporate them into the modification. This actually costs more to the client due to the trustee’s percentage, but 99% of the time the client would rather not have to deal with a bill from our office and then try to figure how to pay it in addition to the plan payments.

Des.

[ariesfire]

Wife and I finished our pre discharge education course, Sent certificates to the court. Plus official document 23. I am doing these things myself since I have lost confidence in my attorney. I do not want to wait to see if my attorney does what he is supposed to. I sent my attorney the copies of documentation I sent to court. Will see if he follows through on the motion to discharge. Attorney should return my call but he refuses to contact me.
Since I have stated that a lone attorney (at least in my case) has created undue stress I have decided to file docs myself. I called the court and clerk said that it was fine and I could file documents myself. Attorneys that disrespect their clients by not communicating are a major annoyance and next time will make sure a communication clause is in the agreement. Keep in mind I only called him once or twice last year and would not have taken only a minute or two to answer my question. Not happy with him but not mad enough to complain to the bar.

[TheBajan]

Wife and I finished our pre discharge education course, Sent certificates to the court. Plus official document 23. I am doing these things myself since I have lost confidence in my attorney. I do not want to wait to see if my attorney does what he is supposed to. I sent my attorney the copies of documentation I sent to court. Will see if he follows through on the motion to discharge. Attorney should return my call but he refuses to contact me.
Since I have stated that a lone attorney (at least in my case) has created undue stress I have decided to file docs myself. I called the court and clerk said that it was fine and I could file documents myself. Attorneys that disrespect their clients by not communicating are a major annoyance and next time will make sure a communication clause is in the agreement. Keep in mind I only called him once or twice last year and would not have taken only a minute or two to answer my question. Not happy with him but not mad enough to complain to the bar.

This is very good information for me. I'm also in the Eastern District but I have a little over two years to go. My atty has been good and everything is moving along smoothly so far... He sometimes needs a little prodding in the communication department but right now there's nothing to communicate. I'm anxious to see if our payment will go up after our trustee gets our tax return. We did have an income increase during the past year.

Michigan is different from most of the other states in that our plan period doesn't start until confirmation as apposed to filing date. My understanding is that we won't get back the extra payments (in my case, two) and like you, I'm okay with that. I'm just looking forward to the day this is finally over.

Congrats on getting this far. I can't wait for your hamster dance!

Cheers!

[ariesfire]

Bajan Looks like your on a 3 year plan, I believe if you are below the median income it could be different. Good Luck two years and 4 months more doesn't seem to bad, keep it up and it will be over before you know it.