Thinking About a Consult?

Today, as I found myself on the phone repeating myself – a lot. It then occurred to me that I could probably explain how our consult process works here on the website. In other words, how do you get from reading this website and digesting the information to getting some face-time with a lawyer (i.e., me).

Here’s how.

1. You can either pick up the phone and call, or you can complete the contact us form. If you call, you will likely be directed to my assistant who will take your information and some notes, and then schedule a time for us confer by telephone. Over the years, I have found that this is the best way to do this; I avoid getting distracted from other client matters, and when I’m speaking with a caller, I can give them my undivided attention. Unless you have hit the cosmic jackpot and called at a time when I have nothing going on other than waiting to speak to new client, we’re going to schedule a time to call. If you email through the contact us form, we will set up a time by email to confer by phone. If there are urgent or pressing matters, tell us – and we’ll do whatever we can to accommodate you – or tell you that we cannot accommodate you. There is no charge for the phone consultation.

2. The purpose of the phone consult is fairly straight-forward: we need to determine whether we can help you. The call should run no more than 15-20 minutes. Unless we don’t already have it, we take your name, address and all contact information. We get an idea of your income, expenses, assets and liabilities. We get a sense of your goals and objectives. We take notes to help us remember. Everything you tell us is confidential. If we do not believe we can help you, we will tell you. If we believe we can help you, we then offer to proceed to the next step, which is an in-office consultation.

3. Before we proceed to the next step, please understand something about me: I am not a bankruptcy salesman. Contrary to what certain talk show hosts might say (I believe Dave Ramsey – based on some of his supporters’ comments on this site – may be one of them), it’s not my job to sell bankruptcy. If this is something you’re considering, I trust you will be able to determine whether this is the best option for you. If I think you’re making a dumb decision, I’m going to tell you. If I think you could make a better decision, I’m going to tell you. If I think you can make no other decision, I’m going to tell you.

I’ll be ending the call with “the next step is the office consult. We can schedule it now, or you can call us when you’re ready.” For real.

4. Regardless of whether you want to schedule an appointment now or call us back, we’ll email you a short questionnaire that we’ll want you to complete and bring with you. That questionnaire identifies documents that we’ll want you to bring with you to the consultation. Some of this information may be used to prepare the petition – but please know that there is a much longer questionnaire we’ll be sending you home with. There are many more documents you will be expected to get for us if you decide to move forward. Among our reasons for having the consult form and the documents is for us to get a clearer sense of the issues you may be facing and what we (or I) need to be paying attention to…or in some cases extra attention to. I strive to be proactive, not reactive.

5. The in-office consultation is done for a fee. That fee varies depending on the nature of the case. For all consumer and small business cases, consult fees are a minimum of $350 (the fee is higher depending on the issues – but for most, it’s $350). You can and should expect your consult to last about an hour and a half. Depending on the nature of the case, the consult fee may be applied to a bankruptcy retainer.

6. For married couples, both parties are required to attend the consults together unless separated, regardless of whether one or both spouses are filing bankruptcy.

7. At the consult, you will receive notices that we are required to provide you under the Bankruptcy Code. You should read them and ask us if you have questions. You will also be required to sign a consultation agreement. The Code requires us to have a contract for everything we do – even if it is just a consult. You’ll get a copy to take home. If you decide to retain us, we can sign a retainer agreement. If you want to think about it more, we’ll send you home with one so you can take your time and review it before you decide.

Among the callers I was chatting with today was a gentleman who told me that he had contacted one of these debt-settlement agencies to explore his options. They were doing the hard-sell. Actually, when I asked him how many times per day were they calling him, we both shared a mighty hearty chuckle. These decisions are too serious to warrant high-pressure sales tactics. I’m only trying to help people determine if it’s the best option for them. And if it is, to then do the best job I can do.