Los Angeles Bankruptcy Attorney Warns of Common Mistakes to Avoid

• That you should remove your name from title to or ownership of assets;
• That you should send your creditors “cease and desist letters;”
• That you should pay each creditor one dollar per month and that means they have to leave you alone;
• That you should run up all of your remaining credit before you file bankruptcy.

These are mistakes that may complicate or possibly ruin your chances for bankruptcy relief.

During a recession, lawyers get just as hungry as everyone else. Many lawyers will gravitate toward handling bankruptcy cases because they think it’s a good way to make fast money (it really isn’t, but we’ll explain that later.)

These lawyers buy a big bankruptcy ad in the Yellow Pages, get an “800” phone number, throw up a website, promise cut rate fees, and Poof! They now have an instant bankruptcy practice. Their advertising brings in clients and the hungry lawyer signs them up. Unfortunately, we constantly get calls from prospective clients who have already filed bankruptcy and hired an inexperienced lawyer. And guess what? Their cases turned into nightmares.

• lost assets that might have been protected;
• failed to discharge taxes that might have been dischargeable;
• had their bankruptcy denied;
• filed under the wrong chapter;
• gotten the wrong instructions for things they should or should not do before, during and after bankruptcy.

Hiring the discount lawyer is like buying the cheap and unsafe car. You may hope that it will get you to your destination, but you might crash somewhere along the way and become a victim, especially if the road is full of hazards and pitfalls—like the complications and intricacies of bankruptcy law.

Lawyers with the lowest fees will generally have the lowest level of skill and may treat their clients with disregard if not downright contempt. In fact, the client might never even meet the lawyer. In some cases it’s typical for the client to have no important communications with an actual lawyer—and instead the client only interacts with office “staff.”

When it’s time for you to speak with a bankruptcy lawyer, find one that is qualified and is a “certified expert” in the field of bankruptcy law. In California, the State Bar “certifies” lawyers as experts in bankruptcy and my partner Leon Bayer and I are both certified experts.