Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: California Bankruptcy

I agree with attorney Cohen - fees are unique to not only the attorney, but also to the individual debtor, and what chapter of bankruptcy you file. Unfortunately, there are so many variables that it is impossible to provide even an estimate of what an average might be. One bit of information which might help you, if you were planning to file a chapter 13 - most courts have a fee maximum which is often referred to as a RARA (Rights and Responsibilities Agreement) "no look" fee limit. If the fees charged by an attorney in a chapter 13 are below that amount, then the court will not ask the attorney to justify the fees. Effectively the courts are saying that these RARA fees are the maximum that they consider reasonable for a run-of-the-mill Chapter 13 case. Fees above that amount are not unreasonable, the attorney simply has to justify why fees in excess of that RARA amount are reasonable. The amounts for these RARA "no look" fees vary from jursidiction to jurisdiction - for instance from San Diego to even just the southern tip of Orange County (where I am located), there is a 20% difference in what the courts consider reasonable. Since you didn't give us a zip code, I can't tell you what the RARA "no look" fees are for your jurisdiction, but you can search for it on the internet.

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Re: California Bankruptcy

Here's the easy part -- the court charges $299 per Chapter 7 bankruptcy (unless you qualify for a fee waiver). You're required to take two course, one before and one during the bankruptcy, that usually run between $35 and $50 each, depending on the provider.

Attorneys have their own way of charging for bankruptcies. Some charge by the number of creditors, others have flat fees, other charge progress payments. It just makes sense to shop around and contact each lawyer's office individually to be confident with the attorney's abilities, and comfortable with the amount charged.