How to interview lawyers?

[user365735]

I am so over my head with this. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm reading the fourms and keep hearing people "interviewing" lawyers. What questions should I be asking? Can I ask them if they have a good relationship with the truste? I really have no idea what is going on..

[anniea4001]

I feel that "interviewing" anyone is not really the best way to measure their real expertise. I mean, people love to lie and present themselves the best possible way. And sometimes not so much as lie, but omit important things or embellish the real details. And this is true everywhere as far as I can tell.

I am personally more concern with the lawyer's experience and results. When I was looking for a lawyer to represent my BK, I did a lot of research, read a lot of reviews from all sources I found. When I called in, I asked as much as I could think of about the process, outcomes, what to expect, what was needed, etc. The firm I worked with also was very straight forward as far as costs and even had a money back policy that they would refund you within a certain amount of days (cannot remember how many) if you changed your mind and decided not to go with them, as long they had not filled your case yet. 

I was also looking for a lawyer that did nothing but BKs and he was on point on every single thing that I went thru during my BK. 

[Horseshoez]

When I interviewed I asked questions like:

• What the relationship was between the attorney and the Trustee, how long they'd known each other, and what the Trustee's hot buttons were; of the five I interviewed two were younger with less than five years doing bankruptcies, and both gave wildly differing answers from each other, and from the other three; I scratched both off my list immediately.
• I asked how long they'd been doing bankruptcies, what their mix was between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, and which was their initial recommendation for me on which to choose based upon a quick review of my case.
• I asked what other areas of law they worked with; the final two on my short list both did bankruptcies, estate planning, and real estate; one of the two also did divorce.
• I also asked for a ballpark estimate of my case; oddly enough, I went with the most expensive of the group.

[jmw1]

For a chapter 13, I would ask a lot of questions about the trustee. I feel the lawyer should step in the shoes of the specific trustee and trustee staff attorneys to avert any problems early while remembering his main job is to represent my best interests. That means I don't want to end up with a $3000 monthly plan payment because the attorney acquiesces too much.  For example, the lawyer should know the tolerance of the trustee for specific budget items and how to exceed those tolerances to the satisfaction of the trustee. A lot of the job is negotiation as well. As long as I'm not lazy with the chapter 13 budget work and gathering receipts, the attorney should not be passive and let me end up with a payment that requires me to eat ramen noodles. 

Another issue is how much work and communication is done with the paralegal vs. the lawyer himself. I get nervous when the paralegal is starting to give legal advice because the attorney is too lazy, too busy, etc.  Sometimes having paralegals is fine like personal injury and lemon law cases. But BK I'd be nervous about having too many paralegals.  

Chapter 7s are usually easy when they are no asset cases. I'd want a pro if there is a potential exemption issue, especially with real estate.

[twono]

I met with 5 attorneys....One of them 3 times....The last  visit with him, i was accused of  'milking' him for information without retaining his services...I gave him $100 that day.

A lot of reading, googling, researching each attorney.  One of the attorneys, i later found out, was a trustee.  She seemed a little more 'by the book'.  Advising me to wait longer to file so that any large purchases had more time to age.  But time was of the essence....literally had to file on the exact day that i did for yearly income reasons.

Another well known/reviewed attorney, advised me to legally adopt my ex-gf's son that lived with me.  That would put me in a different income threshold to meet.

Another attny wanted me to fill out a 10 page questionaire before we even spoke....i walked out.

I finally retained a firm that is THE firm in my major league sports of a city.  I dealt with 2 attnys in the firm (the owners of the firm).  One is a trustee, nationally accredited, on the board of trustees, travels and does seminars/lectures nationally, etc....The other is/was the county tax commissioner and also a practicing BK attorney.

$4000 for my Ch.7 asset case.  Money well spent.

There was never any ambiguity with these guys.  "this is how we're doing it.'  "this is what WILL happen'.  "don't worry, relax, it will be over soon'.  The confidence they had made me feel very good about my BK.

If an attorney says, 'we can try this', or 'we'll see what happens', 'hopefully the trustee will do this', etc...that would make me nervous.  IF they've been doing this long enough and are good at what they do, they should be able to tell you with confidence that your case will be good to go.

Good luck

[Horseshoez]

Well said @twono!