Question about lawyer fees for bankruptcy?

Question

We are planning on filing for Chap 7 bk. We contacted a lawyer and his fee was $2400, which includes all filing costs. He said no lawyer would take a payment plan and file the bk without being paid in full first.

1. Is the fee fair, low or high?

2. Is this true that no lawyer will get the bk filing process underway without being paid in full?

Answer 1

Crazy isn't it!  If you are filing a chpt. 7 how can you possibly afford $2400.00 up front?  However, the attorneys in my state charge more like $1200.00 & you must pay it before the "meeting of creditors"  So they give you a couple of months.  Keep in mind that chpt. 7 is VERY difficult to get now days.

Answer 2

That fee is very high, and yes, it's crazy to charge a high fee like that because if you don't have money, how can you afford it. I filed last year and it cost me almost 1300.00, had to use my tax return money to do it. Here's a tip though, double check in your area and see if you can find a cheaper attorney, don't call them, go in person, most will see you on a free first consultation and after they look at all your income, debts, assets, they can possibly tell you what you can avoid paying certain bills so that you can come up with that money. A chapter 7 should run you from 800.00 to 1500.00  The filing fee for a chapter 7 is a little under 300.00 so the rest is the attorney's fee...he's making good money off of filing!  I used to work for a bk attorney, we used to set up two payments before the creditors meeting and yes, some do want to get paid in full as you only have one meeting and the reason being is that the fees have to be paid upfront to the courts, so the attorney is not going to pay these for you out of their own pockets..they can't bill the courts. How they do it is to get paid then they get you a case #, which then stops all the creditors from calling you. Call around your area and see if you can find someone that is cheapter than 2400.00, that fee is really too high. Good Luck!!