Bankruptcy Attorney Fees

Maria:

Your friend needs to read her contract with the bankruptcy lawyer.

The $1K is most likely his FEE to get the stuff done. Court dates and filings fees are separate....some lawyers include them in the contract - stating UP FRONT as to what it will cost and how they are to be paid. PERIOD.

Sounds like she needs to talk with another lawyer and find out what their fees are. My best friend filed and it cost $1,750 total. CASH ONLY. NO checks. No money orders. CASH ONLY. When questioned why - the lawyer said - checks bounce. Money orders can be forged. You are here for a reason....money issues. My time and services are not free and I cannot afford bounced checks. He was VERY matter of fact.

Good luck!

When I filed bankruptcy the total cost was about 1600$ which included court costs / all fees. The attorney also let me make payments then, once the 1600 was paid off, he filed the paperwork. So that sounds about right to me. My mom filed bankruptcy a LONG time ago and her attorney cost around 800$ for everything , but nobody even showed up to her hearing with her. You get what you pay for.

This sounds normal. The first amount is just for the lawyer, but your friend is still responsible for all the court fees. If the lawyer paid all the court fees out of his $1000 there would be very little to nothing left to compensate him for his time and work and expertise.

I have never filed bankruptcy so I don't know how the fees work for certain.

However, as a business owner who does use legal counsel with my business.......... the $1000 is the retainer fee for taking the case. The other fees that pertain to filing paperwork, etc are all extra. The attorney has the retainer fee and is still paid by the hour according to how much work and filing they have to do for you.

My guess is that the $1000 is his fee, not including court fees. Court fees are very expensive, so in all reality she should find a way to avoid changing the dates. It's considered a refiling each time she does it and they will bill her.

It's not unusual for an attorney to have a "flat fee" for their services, but that doesn't include all of the "fees" associated with the process.

The thousand is called a retainer. You pay them hourly.

If something additional like the creditor comes up you have to pay for the extra hour or hours. If the creditor changes the court date that is not in the attorney's control either.

I would imagine, everything routine was figured into the retainer.

Sounds like the $1000. and the $300. is what he would charge for a normal bankruptcy. Since she has to go to a separate court hearing for a creditor, that's extra and charged as such. She needs to read over her contract and speak with her lawyer to clarify the fees if she's unsure.

that sounds right. My husband paid $2000 for his bankruptcy.

Are these attorney fees or court costs you're talking about. I think it's a mixture; she should ask the attorney EXACTLY what the fees are for.

However, if he charged her a flat fee and then has to do some work that was not anticipated because SHE needs the court date changed, then he might be charging her additional attorneys fees because of the uncontemplated work.

She should check the attorney fee agreement she signed to see what is included and what may be an additional fee.

Ours was $1500 this year.

That's pretty cheap. They usually cost about $2000.