Choosing and working with a bankruptcy attorney

In the United States, a bankrupt is an individual or a legal entity recognized by a special court that deals with such cases. The fact of bankruptcy can be identified and established in the case of legal insolvency. After that, the borrower’s property is sold, and the debts are repaid with the proceeds.

Bankruptcy is a reasonably common proceeding, especially now, with the world plunging deep into another recession. It is a way for many people to start life almost from scratch. But to have the bankruptcy court process completed without issues, a bankruptcy attorney here is a must-have. It will be explained why that is so and how to find a qualified, trusted bankruptcy attorney.

What is a bankruptcy attorney? 

Despite the fact that the legal bankruptcy process is a solution to many problems of creditors and debtors, its practical implementation requires specific skills in jurisprudence. In addition, the bankruptcy of a legal entity is a rather lengthy process, which consists of several stages – supervision, financial recovery, external management, and bankruptcy proceedings. Each of these stages has its characteristics and order of execution. Therefore, even before starting the procedure for declaring a legal entity bankrupt, it is advisable to seek help from a specialist in the field of law – a qualified bankruptcy attorney.

Thus, a bankruptcy attorney is a legal professional who will help the person with all due steps of filing for bankruptcy to ensure this legal process goes perfectly well, without any avoidable issues. Furthermore, a bankruptcy attorney will be able to provide you with a legal consultation regarding bankruptcy laws and provisions in your state and will analyze whether bankruptcy is the only way out of your financial problems.

How to find a reputable bankruptcy attorney? 

There are several actions you can do to find yourself a reliable, qualified bankruptcy attorney:

Check for a lawyer in lists and registries

If there is a list or registry of active lawyers in your state, comb through it to find your candidate lawyer in order to check whether he is a real professional and not a scammer. Additionally, a lawyer must also have a certificate and be listed somewhere – in the bar, bureau, office, or legal advice.

Learn about his specialization, experience, and availability of recommendations from clients and colleagues.

Information spreads quickly through local peer-to-peer networks. The lawyer you choose must specialize in bankruptcy proceedings, and it is even better if he has a lot of experience and good recommendations. That can be clarified with the lawyer himself, or you can study his professional path through the internet. However, you should be wary if there is no accessible information available about the attorney on the internet or among colleagues.

Meet the lawyer and discuss with him

Even if you have corresponding recommendations, it is simply not possible to get a complete impression of your future attorney via phone calls or text messaging. Indeed, there must be a mutual understanding between the lawyer and the client – without this, nothing will work out even with the most experienced professional.

Thus, it is necessary to discuss in detail the potential cooperation, the essential organizational steps, the deadlines for them, the documents that will need to be submitted to the client and that will be prepared in the course of work, and the government offices with which the interaction will be carried out.

Such a detailed discussion allows one to understand better the level of the lawyer’s qualifications and his readiness to get involved in solving the problem immediately. In addition, this will help to effectively set up joint work between the client and the lawyer, predict possible problems and risks, prepare for their mitigation, and avoid potential future disappointments (especially mutual ones).

During the first discussion of the case, a good lawyer should give the client enough information about the directions of the development of the situation and prospects and complex issues that require further study. The professionalism of a lawyer will be evidenced by his awareness of jurisprudence on the subject.

How much does a bankruptcy attorney cost? 

It is important to mention first that you are paying the bankruptcy attorney’s fee and the state legal fees to file for bankruptcy. A person filing for bankruptcy most often decides between chapter 7 (most of the debts forgiven) or chapter 13 (reorganizes debts into repayment plan) bankruptcies. Thus, the filing fee for chapter 7 is $338, and for chapter 13 – it is $313.

While filing fees are the same across the United States, lawyer fees vary based on your location, case complexity, and attorney’s renown. So, for example, an attorney in a rural area is cheaper than in a major metropolitan city, and a simple case will also make an attorney ask less for his job. Anyway, approximate attorney fees for Chapter 7 bankruptcy are $500-3500, and for Chapter 13 bankruptcy – $1500-6000.

How do you know if your lawyer is incompetent?

After the contract has been concluded, a good lawyer periodically informs the client about the case’s progress, takes the necessary steps in a timely manner, coordinates them in advance, does not shy away from meetings, and answers all the questions that arise thoroughly. The lack of such action on the part of the selected lawyer is indeed a cause for concern.

You can also understand whether a lawyer is incompetent by the court’s reaction to his work. If the documents that the lawyer prepares are systematically rejected by the court, read the texts of the relevant judicial acts. Usually, special knowledge is not required to understand whether the document was denied due to the fact that the lawyer made a mistake. However, if such rejections become a tendency, you should reassess your lawyer’s opinion.

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