How and how much should attorney get paid?

[stymie]

Doing a Ch-13 and lawyer says he gets $2500 up front and then puts a claim in for another $2500 with trustee. Does this sound legit?

[jq26]

That sounds steep. Although with 13s there can be so many side issues that a complicated case can be very expensive. I would think for a SIMPLE 13 that $2500 total would be sufficient.

I read a case last week that was issued by a 3rd circuit BK judge that denied a well-known attorney's Chap13 claim for payment as an administrative expense (this can be done through the court if the payment isn't made upfront). The attorney was asking for $28,000. But here's the kicker: it wasn't the AMOUNT that was the sticking point. It was that the attorney secured a $28,000 mortgage against the debtor's property ahead of time without the court's permission (presumably to assure payment ). That's a huge no-no as Judge Frank (3rd Cir) explained in his opinion.

My point in posting that was that some attorneys are apparently charging $28,000 for very, very complicated 13 cases where there are family partnerships and other issues involved. But I would think that $2500 is probably the going rate for a simple 13.

Shop around if you aren't happy. Good luck.

[parsoc]

Our attorney is charging $3500 also, $1800 was upfront and covered all the filing fees. Considering that he's going to be involved for the next 5 years with various issues coming up it didn't seem that expensive. Cases that look simple at the beginning have the potential to fall apart or get more complicated.