Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York

Re: Lawyer and Bankruptcy

A lawyer is not allowed to seek payment of his/her fees for a consumer bankruptcy case from the client after the case has been filed. For that reason the fee is required to be paid in full before the case is filed. Some lawyers, such as my firm, include and break down ALL cost items when they quote a fee for bankruptcy (as part of a flat fee including costs). Other lawyers seem to quote an artificially low fee and require the client to pay all cost items out of pocket.

The filing fee to file a bankruptcy case is $299 for a chapter 7 case. Mandatory credit counseling usually costs about $50 and post-bankruptcy financial management usually costs $50. Attorney�s fees vary widely, but the range of legal fees (not including costs) for experienced bankruptcy attorneys for chapter 7 bankruptcies in the New York metro area these days seems to be about $1,500 - 2,500, depending on the attorney and complexity of the matter.

Fees that bankruptcy attorneys charge for bankruptcy are not a mystery. They are all required to disclose them to the bankruptcy court. If you have shopped around for the very lowest fees that doesn't mean you have found a competent or qualified bankruptcy lawyer. . . .

A good way to find a qualified bankruptcy attorney for a consumer bankruptcy case is through the non-profit referral service of your local county bar association, or through the membership list of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) at http://www.nacba.org/attorneyfinder/. The county bar association referral service, however, unlike NACBA, screens the people on its referral panel and generally requires them to meet certain standards of experience and competence, maintain malpractice insurance, and not have disciplined by a court or sued for malpractice. I suggest you may want to give that a try.

Good luck,

Re: Lawyer and Bankruptcy

The reality of the situation is that some lawyers have cheap rates, and you can't expect anything more from them than you would from any other cut rate outfit, lawyer or not.