Choosing the right bankruptcy attorney can be the most complicated process in today’s society of social media and mass marketing techniques. The debtor in need of effective and accurate bankruptcy analysis will hardly know where to start. We firmly believe if you ask the following questions, the answers you receive will lead you to choose the bankruptcy attorney that is right for you.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PRACTICING BANKRUPTCY?
Bankruptcy is a unique area of practice that most attorneys find complex and confusing. Therefore, in your initial inquiry you must determine how long the attorney in question has been practicing bankruptcy law. If the attorney has been practicing law for thirty years, but none of it in the United States Bankruptcy Court, then that attorney would probably be a poor choice. This may seem too simple, but it is shocking to find out how many debtors have ended up being an experiment to assist an attorney in learning on the fly.
WHAT TYPE OF BANKRUPTCY CASES DO YOU HANDLE?
Our bankruptcy attorneys only handle consumer cases. Some will only represent creditors. Many attorneys will only practice in business reorganization bankruptcy cases. An individual debtor needs a bankruptcy attorney that represents individuals in either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 cases. Chapter 7 cases are the classic straight bankruptcy case, in which the debtor essentially says, “Here are all my debts and here are all my assets. You guys sort it out; I am off to a fresh start.”
Chapter 13 is also referred to as “Debtor’s Court.” In debtor’s court, those debtors not eligible for Chapter 7 propose a repayment plan for some or all of their debt. The plan should be fundable from a debtor’s disposable income. Disposable income is the amount of money remaining after a debtor pays all of his or her bills. The plan should be expected to last from three to five years. If a debtor does not have enough disposable income to fund a repayment plan for all of his or her debts, they may propose a plan that purports to pay back less than 100% of all debts. With such complex analysis required on these types of cases, a debtor must carefully select a bankruptcy attorney. With so many levels of complex analysis required, the unrepresented debtor should choose a bankruptcy attorney with the ability to identify the avenues of relief available to the debtor and direct the case in the appropriately.
