4 Ways to Avoid Selecting a Bad Bankruptcy Attorney
Here are the suggestions:
1) Don't dawdle! Waiting until the last minute is never a good idea. Call an attorney when you see the writing on the wall and don't wait until your back is against the wall with lawsuits and judgments.
2) Unless you know someone who has gone through a bankruptcy and has experienced it, don't ask for referrals. A person is likely to recommend his general practice lawyer or divorce lawyer who may have little or no experience handling bankruptcy cases. If you know someone who has filed, by all means you should ask them how their attorney performed, but if the person hasn't filed before they aren't likely to lead you to a competent bankruptcy lawyer.
3) Ask for referrals from other legal professionals. If you know an attorney, it doesn't hurt to ask the person whether they know any bankruptcy attorneys or have heard about particularly good attorneys. Our firm, for instance, gets referrals from bankruptcy trustees regularly. One trustee recently commented aloud in front of all the other attorneys "you guys really have your stuff together, I wish all the attorneys that practiced before me did it this way."
4) Spend a day at bankruptcy court. If you can spend a day at 341 meetings (you can check for a location near you by going to www.usdoj.gov/ust and calling your nearest office and asking where the meetings are held and when) you can observe how all the attorneys interact with their clients and how their cases are resolved. There was a good article recently I ran across at MSN money that discussed this very issue. There were some helpful tips that I think go along with some of my prior posts regarding how to select a lawyer.
Here are the suggestions:
1) Don't dawdle! Waiting until the last minute is never a good idea. Call an attorney when you see the writing on the wall and don't wait until your back is against the wall with lawsuits and judgments.
2) Unless you know someone who has gone through a bankruptcy and has experienced it, don't ask for referrals. A person is likely to recommend his general practice lawyer or divorce lawyer who may have little or no experience handling bankruptcy cases. If you know someone who has filed, by all means you should ask them how their attorney performed, but if the person hasn't filed before they aren't likely to lead you to a competent bankruptcy lawyer.
3) Ask for referrals from other legal professionals. If you know an attorney, it doesn't hurt to ask the person whether they know any bankruptcy attorneys or have heard about particularly good attorneys. Our firm, for instance, gets referrals from bankruptcy trustees regularly. One trustee recently commented aloud in front of all the other attorneys "you guys really have your stuff together, I wish all the attorneys that practiced before me did it this way."
4) Spend a day at bankruptcy court. If you can spend a day at 341 meetings (you can check for a location near you by going to www.usdoj.gov/ust and calling your nearest office and asking where the meetings are held and when) you can observe how all the attorneys interact with their clients and how their cases are resolved.
