AboutLos Angeles Bankruptcy Lawyer Leon D. Bayer Expertise Personal and small business bankruptcy. Mr. Bayer has successfully handled thousands of bankruptcy cases. You can view his personal web site at:
Publications Author, ?The Essentials Of Chapter 13,? Daily Journal Report, December 18, 1987.
Contributing Editor, Basic Bankruptcy, California Practice Handbook, Matthew Bender 1992, 1993.
CEB Consultant, CEB-Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Practice in California, 2003.
Awards and Honors President, 1995-1996-Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum; Member - Los Angeles County Bar Association Committee on Commercial Law & Bankruptcy, 1988. Law Advisory
Commission-Personal & Small Business Bankruptcy Law of the State Bar of California, 1996-2000
MR. BAYER SAYS: The big banks and credit card companys have been working overtime for many years to undermine the Consitutional right of the American people to be able to claim bankruptcy protection. In 2005 the banking lobby successfully convinced Congress and the President to make the laws and proceedures more complicated, hopeing that it will stymie legitimate people from filing bankruptcy. They succeeded in gaining these complex new legal proceedures by greasing the legislative system with hundreds of millions of dollars in "campaign contributions." The good news for the American people is that while the new laws have made the proceedures needlessly complex to the point where inexperienced people can't help but trip over the maze of new rules and regulations, the process is still doable, especially with a lawyer who is well trained and experienced in this specialty.
Question I'd like to hire a new attorney because mine is not responding to emails and phone calls. I filed for Bk(chap 13) last year and my financial situation has changed(making less money).The BK plan needs to be amended to reflect my current financial situation. This lawyer that I contacted wants to charge based on hourly basis. Will the Trustee need to approve his fees? If I sign an hourly fee agreement and after a few months I receive a high bill,will the Trustee need to approve the amount before I make any payment to this new lawyer? Please advise.
I think you are doing the right thing by changing attorneys.
Your new lawyer will need to apply to the court for approval of attorney fees, and if the Plan is modified, the modification should take into account the estimated cost of the new attorney fees. An experienced BK attorney should be able to tell you what the cost is going to be, even though it will be billed on an hourly basis. The retainer agreement should specify the what the fee is going to be, that way there won't be any surprises. I have taken over many cases started by other lawyers, and I have had no problem with telling a new client what it is going to cost for performing simple, basic services such as seeking a modification of the Plan.
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