In most cases, when you hire an attorney, you are embarking on a long term relationship. In the United States, the attorney acts as solicitor and counselor. This means that the attorney does the legal work required for your standing and position in the Court, and counsels with you along the way to ensure that your wishes and goals match up with the legal work. When you hire an attorney, you should think about your interaction with that person, on a personal level, and also whether the attorney is equipped to deal with the most difficult legal realities that might occur in your case. This is one of the most important aspects of the legal representation. When you have a new consultation with an attorney, the client should ask questions to understand the most difficult aspects of what might happen in their case, and then they should ask the attorney if he or she will handle all of those aspects.

Many attorneys in bankruptcy are “fair weather” attorneys. They do the work that is straight forward, for them. But will not do the more difficult aspects that might occur in a case, for example, if an adversary proceeding is filed, many attorneys will tell the client that they need to hire someone else for the adversary. An adversary proceeding is when a creditor disputes a debt, and chooses to fight the discharge for one of the reasons enumerated in the bankruptcy code. Other attorneys choose to disregard the case when the U.S. Trustee or the Chapter 7 Trustee makes demands, moves to investigate, dismiss a case, or other possible scenarios that are difficult and challenging.

We agree to help people whose attorneys are not calling them back, or don’t know what to do when certain negative circumstances befall a client. When a client has to change attorneys when certain negative circumstances occur, it can be very stressful and upsetting. It is hard to know in the initial client attorney interview if the attorney is willing and able to handle the most difficult aspects of a case, and will not seek to either be removed from the case, or ignore the client’s calls if the case takes a negative turn.

The only way to guard against this is to ask when questioning an attorney about what the most difficult aspects of cases are, and if the attorney handles all of those aspects of the case. It is important that the hired attorney, and not their non-attorney staff work on all of the legal challenges that can occur in the core case filed with the Court. If the attorney does not do adversary proceedings, or does not do motions to modify, or does not fight US Trustee or Chapter 7 Trustee challenges, then this attorney may not be able to handle all the aspects of your case. If the attorney says that they will take care of these things upon the initial interview, ask them how many they have done to be sure that this is a true statement. Also, it is a good idea to find out if the attorney has been suspended from practice for violations from the State Bar of California. The State Bar is the agency that attorneys are licensed under. The client can ask the attorney about their years of practice and if they have ever been suspended, or the client can look up the attorney’s record with the State Bar of California. This kind of questioning and inquiry when hiring an attorney will ensure a smooth case for the client, will keep the costs down, and will reduce the over all potential for stress that legal challenges can bring.

In most cases, when you hire an attorney, you are embarking on a long term relationship. In the United States, the attorney acts as solicitor and counselor. This means that the attorney does the legal work required for your standing and position in the Court, and counsels with you along the way to ensure that your wishes and goals match up with the legal work. When you hire an attorney, you should think about your interaction with that person, on a personal level, and also whether the attorney is equipped to deal with the most difficult legal realities that might occur in your case. This is one of the most important aspects of the legal representation. When you have a new consultation with an attorney, the client should ask questions to understand the most difficult aspects of what might happen in their case, and then they should ask the attorney if he or she will handle all of those aspects.

Many attorneys in bankruptcy are “fair weather” attorneys. They do the work that is straight forward, for them. But will not do the more difficult aspects that might occur in a case, for example, if an adversary proceeding is filed, many attorneys will tell the client that they need to hire someone else for the adversary. An adversary proceeding is when a creditor disputes a debt, and chooses to fight the discharge for one of the reasons enumerated in the bankruptcy code. Other attorneys choose to disregard the case when the U.S. Trustee or the Chapter 7 Trustee makes demands, moves to investigate, dismiss a case, or other possible scenarios that are difficult and challenging.

We agree to help people whose attorneys are not calling them back, or don’t know what to do when certain negative circumstances befall a client. When a client has to change attorneys when certain negative circumstances occur, it can be very stressful and upsetting. It is hard to know in the initial client attorney interview if the attorney is willing and able to handle the most difficult aspects of a case, and will not seek to either be removed from the case, or ignore the client’s calls if the case takes a negative turn.

The only way to guard against this is to ask when questioning an attorney about what the most difficult aspects of cases are, and if the attorney handles all of those aspects of the case. It is important that the hired attorney, and not their non-attorney staff work on all of the legal challenges that can occur in the core case filed with the Court. If the attorney does not do adversary proceedings, or does not do motions to modify, or does not fight US Trustee or Chapter 7 Trustee challenges, then this attorney may not be able to handle all the aspects of your case. If the attorney says that they will take care of these things upon the initial interview, ask them how many they have done to be sure that this is a true statement. Also, it is a good idea to find out if the attorney has been suspended from practice for violations from the State Bar of California. The State Bar is the agency that attorneys are licensed under. The client can ask the attorney about their years of practice and if they have ever been suspended, or the client can look up the attorney’s record with the State Bar of California. This kind of questioning and inquiry when hiring an attorney will ensure a smooth case for the client, will keep the costs down, and will reduce the over all potential for stress that legal challenges can bring.