I have been seeing many attorneys as of late start blogs to move up in the world of the internet, mainly google and yahoo to be exact. I mentioned in an earlier posting that this is especially true in bankruptcy law since the downturn in the economy has caused many attorneys to learn how to do bankruptcies really fast and hold themselves out to be bankruptcy experts. The biggest pet peeve with these blogs is most of the stuff posted is a a bunch of fluff. For example, I recently saw a post of one of my competitors blogging about the potential bankruptcy of the auto makers which he or she probably cut and paste from CNN. The main purpose of our blog here is to answer the basic questions of bankruptcy law. My questions might be repetitive, but they will be the same questions that I am asked week in and week out. Just last Friday I had a woman make an appointment and come in and asked me what bankruptcy she qualified for. For the difference between the two I will provide a link here, http://www.teamlegalchicago.com/FAQ.html
That was not the question that was an issue though, the real point was that she really wanted to save her home and was under the impression that the only way to do that was a chapter 13 bankruptcy. I did my standard client interview and she informed me that she had no equity in her house and if there was any it was at a minimum. I informed her that if that was the case and she did not have any other major assets with equity, such as expensive cars, jewelery etc, she would qualify to file bankruptcy under chapter 7 and eliminate her unsecured debt. When I informed her of this she was elated and practically did not believe me and treated me as if I had just started practicing law in this area. I asked her why she thought that? She informed me that she was surfing the net for hours going through the various web sites of local attorneys and law firms and read that chapter 13 was the only way to save her house. Upon further research I found this to be true. Most attorneys and law firms really do not take the time to explain the process on their web sites but rather try to have a sleek looking site and entice a potential client to call so they can try and close the deal so to speak. This where I would like to be different and http://www.teamlegalchicago.com to be different. I encourage readers to post questions either through our site at Team Legal or through the blog here. From day one it has been our goal to for potential clients to know the answers they are looking for BEFORE they hire us.

Being a bankruptcy attorney and the way the economy is today there is an assumption that business is booming for bankruptcy attorneys across the country. This might be true but I find for myself and our firm, business has actually been quite steady since 2003. What I do find is attorneys that were in other practice areas such as real estate who have seen a major decline in their practice area switch over to bankruptcy law and will advertise all sorts of gimmicks regarding fees because they believe this is the area to be in. The first problem with this is that bankruptcy is more than just filing a petition and going to a 341 meeting. Most cases are cut and dry, but an attorney still needs to be well versed in the law as there could be an adversary action filed by a credit card fighing the discharge which I have been seeing quite often as of late. I won't even get into the issues that can occur regarding foreclosures in this entry, but suffice it to say that opens up all sorts of issues which equates more hours the attorney has to spend on this specific debtors' case. What does all this have to do with fees?
Well I have noticed that phone calls have increased by potential clients asking me how much money they would need to start the bankruptcy process. The reason they ask this questions is because there is quite a bit of advertising by attorneys whether it be,a large or small firm advertising payment plans which I find misleading in my opinion. The bottom line is no attorney or bankruptcy law firm will file a case without being paid in full. Having said that when a bankruptcy law firm advertises a low money down amount to get the job started it is just a hook do get you through the door. The bottom line is your case will not be filed until you are paid in full, which means you will not be under bankruptcy protection. So be informed when you make those calls, and I recommend hiring the lawyer that will take the time and answer your questions whether it be by email, telephone or in person and will discuss his or her fees with you up front.

Anyone considering filing a bankruptcy should definitely keep this entry bookmarked. We get a call at least three times a week asking us whether or not someone should file a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy. I would like to start out by answering that you really do not have a choice. For example if you file a chapter 7 bankruptcy and after reasonable living expenses are paid, there is money left over to pay off a portion of your debt the trustee would file a bad faith objection and deny your chapter 7 bankruptcy. The reverse is also true, if you file a chapter 13 bankruptcy and you do not make enough money to make the payments in the plan the trustee can file an objection in this instance also. To simplify this question with an example would probably be of more use just get an understanding of the subject matter.
Lets say for example you had signifcant equity in your home and car but had an insurmountable amount of credit card debt and you just cant keep up with the monthly payments. You decide to file a chapter 13 bankruptcy so you can make sure you can keep your house and car and just pay a portion of your credit card debt over a five year period. If the trustee calculates that you can't make the payments in the plan after all of your other expenses, your chapter 13 will be denied.
In many cases with todays real estate market what is common is that potential debtors file chapter 7 bankruptcy and keep their houses and cars because there is no equity there or are within the exemption amounts and just discharge their credit card debt and keep up with their payments. For more detail on this visit http://www.bankruptcysupersite.com. So to make a long story short if you have a car or house without much equity you can file a chapter 7 bankruptcy and discharge your unsecured debt as long as your income falls withing the federal guidelines of the means test. You can get more detail on the means test at http://www.bankruptcysupersite.com. For more detailed questions you can call us at http://www.teamlegalchicago.com for a free telephone consultation 773-685-9138.