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     | Wednesday, July 19, 2000 - 06:11 am  I see books all over the place on how to do it, including on Chapter7.com. Has anyone here been succesful at doing it? Should I just fork over the $700 to a lawyer? -Dave
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| | Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 01:27 am there is an old saying that "a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client". Likewise an individual who is pennywise but pound foolish. 700 seems a bit steep but maybe it is east coast pricing. Nonetheless, I would get the book just to be in charge of the bankruptcy and know what is going on but let the lawyer do the job. I chose the one that I used because he returned phone calls and knew the answers to various questions that I had discovered via the web and other research. and best of all, when he didn't know the answer he said so and found out. Just don't go to a bankrutptcy mill because they just don't care and it is a sad time--the guilt was overwhelming and the sense of failure, when in fact I believe 9 out of 10 times it is not the individual's fault. Now, a year later, I feel terrific and realize it was the smartest thing to have done. good luck
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| | Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 11:16 am Thanks Senator, I wasn't sure what to say here, but you said it perfectly. It's unfortunate, but one has to know a few things to be able to determine whether the lawyer knows anything. And it takes a lot of calling around to find a good one. Nothing's ever easy.
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| | Friday, July 21, 2000 - 04:02 am The option I used was the Legal Aid Society (who doesn't do bankruptcies) was able to refer me to a lawyer who only charged $280 because he is new to the field. Maybe it wasn't the greatest service, but it was nice to tell the phone calls "talk to my lawyer". Good Luck
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| | Saturday, July 22, 2000 - 11:17 am You have to hire a lawyer. For $700, hire a good one. You can go to Martindale Hubble's lawyer locater (just type in "Martindale Hubbel" at Yahoo), and see peer review ratings of lawyers in private practice. Martindale Hubbel asks lawyers and judges to anonymously rate other lawyers. You want someone with an AV or a BV rating For $700, you can get a BV lawyer. The ratings are explained. I strongly suggest you also buy a book on bankruptcy and do your own homework. A friend of mine who went bankrupt (medical bills) was able to keep a tractor (worth $15K) because he found the law allowed it. His lawyer wasn't aware of this. My uncle is a lawyer who does bankruptcy law. If you e mail me a question in the next few days, or after labor day, I'l get you an answer for free. patmcgarry@webtv.net (my uncle will be on vacation during the month of August).
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| | Sunday, September 17, 2000 - 12:08 pm Not sure if you already contacted someone on filing a chapter 7 backruptcy but another good source is contacting a Paralegal. I just did a Chapter 7 bankruptcy for someone in our area of Florida for $175 which is pretty much the norm as indicated by the Bankruptcy Judge spoke with recently.
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| | Monday, September 18, 2000 - 12:10 pm There is probably a good time and a bad time to save $50. I don't think that the best time is when you are trying to motivate someone, who is not a close friend, to spend a lot of time counseling you. If you are not fully aware of the legal and practical ramifications of bnk or the many other options, then how can you make the right choice among those options? How far will $175 go? Will the person spend hours giving you options before you choose bnk. If you choose bnk, how much time will the person spend making sure that your assets are insulated from creditors? How much time will they spend on explaining the re-establishment of credit afterwards? To answer that, ask yourself how much time you would spend. People assume that if the bnk went through without a hitch, then that is all that matters. They may not realize until years later that there was a problem. For example, a judicial or tax lien may have survived the bnk. You won't know until you try to sell the real property. But the real problem is that there may not have been a need to file the bnk that went through without a hitch. Oops. And you may never realize. I know several attorneys who charge over a $1,000 and you do not get much more for the money than some typing service or paralegal. No guarantees that you get what you pay for. But it is unrealistic to expect that $175 will get you too much. At least for 3 or 4 hundred, maybe there is a reasonable expectation that someone will spend time, instead of just typing up the documents that may or may not be good for you. In Florida, the judges have sanctioned a number of the paralegal and typing services, and ordered them not to take any more bnks. Why have the judges done this? Because of the INCREDIBLE amounts of harm that these people occasionally do, even if unintentionally. Most bnks are so easy that you could do it yourself, even without a paralegal or attorney. The trick is knowing when it is that simple. I would recommend that when you are choosing a surgeon or lawyer, that the decision not be based exclusively on price. Do not take this as an attack if you did it yourself, or found someone who has never gone to court, to file the bnk for you. But keep your expectations reasonable. And do not assume that it will work out fine for you just because it worked out fine for them.
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| | Monday, September 18, 2000 - 01:09 pm Mitch, The reason is plain why I wanted to do it myself. (And I do *greatly* appreciate your input, as I do with everyone elses, and I do read it and absorb it). I'm young. I've got very little in assets (read: All in all, calculated up, somewhere around $25,000 - no single item over the $8750 cover... well under the blanket if you do a fed. bankruptcy case). It's very cut and dry - most all unsecured creditors - no real estate in my name (I rent), etc. That's why I figured I'd do it myself. And to be honest, I think I'm going to try it myself, and if I get into hot water, either A) hire a lawyer real quick, or B) attempt to withdraw the case and let a lawyer re-file it. I just don't have the cash to plunk down right now, and I'm sick and tired of everyone harassing me for $ I don't have. I've tried CCCS. It's a joke. -Dave
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| | Monday, September 18, 2000 - 01:13 pm I agree 100%. Mitch wrote "Most bnks are so easy that you could do it yourself, even without a paralegal or attorney. The trick is knowing when it is that simple." KNOWING is the key word here. You have to KNOW quite a bit to realize that you DO need an attorney, and then you have to know when you found a GOOD attorney. I have yet find a way to identify competent and honest professionals other than knowing MORE about the subject than those pros.
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| | Monday, September 18, 2000 - 01:36 pm Also, I just looked up a lawyer that was recommended to me at http://lawyers.martindale.com/marhub/form/attorney.html and he's listed, but I don't see a rating. The page on ratings says that only about 43% of lawyers are rated.
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