When you call for your bankruptcy consultation with Bill Balena what can you expect? First, to have a bankruptcy consultation you must not be currently represented by a bankruptcy attorney, and second, you must live in one of the counties that make up the Northern District of Ohio. For my practice these counties are:
If you reside in a county adjoining any of these, or in any other county, I have a network of excellent bankruptcy lawyers from which I can make a direct referral.
The purpose of our meeting is to decide:
Sounds easy doesn’t it? Shouldn’t take too much time either, right? Answering these three questions takes nearly an hour of discussion and reviewing your documents that I asked you to bring with you to the bankruptcy consultation. If you don’t bring the documents with you there will be no discussion.
Although you will normally be meeting with me to eliminate your bills, we will spend very little time on that part of the information. It is much more important to cover things like
I know it is very scary and terribly stressful to discuss these things with a total stranger. I try to keep the mood upbeat and cheery. You are coming for help. I am on your side. I want my law firm to be your answer, not part of the pressure that everyone else is so good at making you suffer. I always keep a box of tissues handy.
Once you conclude that some kind of bankruptcy is your best choice we decide together how much this will cost. Chapter 13 cases are easy. The courts in Cleveland. Toledo and Akron control the attorney fee. Every chapter 13 attorney charges the same amount. The only leeway we have is how much of the fee you pay in advance. The fee for a Cleveland chapter 13 case is $3,000.00 with up to $800 paid in advance and the balance paid through the plan in monthly installments over the first year.
For a Chapter 7 case it is different. There is no fee set by the court. Every attorney does things differently. We will decide on a fee amount. I will quote this total to include all the costs and expenses you need to pay to get the case filed. Many lawyers just quote you only the fee portion to appear less expensive than others in the field. Bankruptcy is not inexpensive. The time for games is over. You are in my office for a reason. I want to help you, I want to be your bankruptcy attorney and I you to receive value for what you are paying.
The meeting we are having is a bankruptcy consultation office appointment. I never expect you to bring anything to our initial meeting other than documents. Some clients bring money to get things rolling faster. That is up to you.
Whatever chapter we are filing under you are in complete control of your payment plan. As part of the retainer agreement you will fill out how much you will pay and when. All I expect you to do is to live up to your promise. It is best to do it within 60 days. Otherwise your information gets stale and will need updated. That may mean more attorney fees.
Once you sign the retainer agreement I will notify the collection agents who have been making life unbearable. This will stop many of the calls. Remember what I said about delivering you value? All that remains after that is paying the balance due, completing the credit counseling, and coming in for a signing appointment.
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