If you think that the only job of a bankruptcy attorney is to file bankruptcy, you are mistaken. A bankruptcy attorney's main responsibility is preparing and carrying out an accurate bankruptcy petition. The court will not grant a petition until it is thoroughly researched and filled with correct facts. A lawyer who is not thoroughly versed in the legal field will not be able to properly represent you in a bankruptcy proceeding. Therefore, the first thing that you need to do is to find out more about the history of the company.Most reputable bankruptcy attorneys all provide free consultations to potential debtors.
This is primarily because good bankruptcy lawyers know your financial limitations well when seeking debt relief. Also, most law firms that specialize in bankruptcy law have a high number of clients and receive many referrals. This means that most of them are experienced in dealing with such cases. You can also trust them since they are experienced with the laws governing such proceedings.
There are two types of chapters in bankruptcy law: chapter 7 and chapter 13. Chapter 7 involves debt management while chapter 13 involves liquidation of assets to pay off unsecured debt. Since creditors are usually granted relief from some of their debt in chapter 7, it is understandable that they may be willing to settle for a smaller sum in exchange for prompt repayment. However, this does not mean that bankruptcy lawyers cannot play their part.
For starters, a good bankruptcy attorney should have extensive experience in dealing with many people in a similar situation. He must also have the capacity to make the financial decisions that are best for his client. As a result, many people choose to work with a sole pro bono attorney. In such a situation, the lawyer works on a pro bono basis for a limited period of time (usually one or two months). The objective of this strategy is to ensure that one's financial decisions do not harm anyone else besides the client.
A sole pro bono attorney is not an appropriate choice for many clients. This is because the attorney rarely has access to sufficient information to assess the full extent of the debtor's bankruptcy history. As a result, many attorneys choose to take the word of the trustee (or other relevant parties) when it comes to assessing the full extent of a debtor's bankruptcy history. For example, a creditor assessing a chapter 7 bankruptcy might conclude that the debtor incurred a huge debt in the past, mostly as a result of buying too many new items and paying huge personal loans.
Unfortunately, chapter seven is not a short term solution. If a creditor files a petition to the bankruptcy court, the debtor might just find himself filing for chapter eight instead. Therefore, a great strategy is to have the trustee or someone else prepare an in depth report that will give the relevant details about the debts, the payment history, the types of credits that were used, and even the details about any lawsuits that might have been brought against the debtor.