I’ve received several email questions relating to the deadline for filing a bankruptcy case before the new bankruptcy laws take effect. Officially, the new law takes effect on October 17, 2005. October 17th is a Monday. Thus, cases can be filed up until midnight on October 16, 2005 under current law.

Yes, it is possible to file on Sunday. Most clerks’ offices throughout the country allow electronic, online, filing. This allows the attorney to file his/her own paperwork any time, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week via the internet.

However, I caution you not to wait until the weekend before the law changes to come into an attorney’s office and expect to be able to get your case filed before 10/17/05. Most law firms are going to set internal deadlines after which they either stop taking any new cases at all, or only take new cases to be filed under the new law.

The reason for this is simple. If I allowed anyone to walk into my office on Saturday before the law changes and expect to get the case filed before Monday, there wouldn’t be enough hours in the day for me to physically complete all the paperwork for all my clients. Of course, if this was my only client that would be one thing, but most firms who do bankruptcy work these days handle many cases. There are numerous press reports out there that have discussed the fact that bankruptcy courts across the country have already been seeing increases in filings of 8-10% compared to the same time period last year and most courts expect this number to increase further as October 17 approaches. My firm has seen an increase of close to 20% in inquiries since April and it has intensified even more within the last month. Such a short-term increase like this necessitates setting deadlines in order for the law firm to fulfill its obligations to you and to the court. Most firms are going to do an analysis of their caseloads and their new appointments compared with their personnel and make their own decisions about deadlines to get paperwork and fees paid in order to be able to complete all the paperwork and get cases filed in time.

Some of you may not know, but at least two appellate courts in this country have ruled that a bankruptcy attorney’s fee is discharged in a Chapter 7 case. Those courts have ordered bankruptcy attorneys who have collected balances on their fee contracts after bankruptcy to refund all fees collected. Since most lawyers aren’t going to want to jeopardize their livelihood, they require that all fees for Chapter 7 cases be paid in full before the case can be filed. Thus, you’re likely going to have to pay all fees in full and provide all paperwork needed for the case well before October 17, 2005.

I’ve heard reports from some of my associates indicating that many law firms have already stopped taking new appointments for clients who want their cases filed before October 17, 2005. Many more will be reaching their deadlines soon. I urge you not to delay contacting an attorney if you’re still sitting on the fence!

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