It's Time to Change Your Luck!

There are a lot of things that go into a decision to file for bankruptcy in Fort Collins.   First, is it the best decision for your long term goals?   Second, are your bill really more than you can handle?   If you’re filing due to unpayable medical bills, how will this affect your current treatment?

Bankruptcy, if done correctly and with quality legal council, can give you a new financial beginning.   Generally people don’t consider bankruptcy unless life has dealt them a hand they can’t play.   There are the scammers of course, who GET CAUGHT by the way, but generally the average client walking in the door has had something catastrophic happen or they’re dealing with some foolish decisions from earlier in life.

If you’re considering filing for bankruptcy in Fort Collins due to medical bills, divorce, or business failure, make sure you’re not starting over when you have less dramatic options available.   Creditors can be understanding, especially when they find out you’re looking at bankruptcy in Fort Collins as a possibility. I recommend meeting with an experienced bankruptcy attorney, an accountant, and your spouse (if you’re married).   If you don’t have to start from scratch with your credit, you’ll end up being ahead in the long run.   If however, bankruptcy is the only way for you to regain your financial freedom, it could be your ticket to a new beginning.

Give me a call for straighforward honest advice on your bankruptcy in Fort Collins.   We are experienced attorneys, and we enjoy helping our clients be successful.

How to Drive Your Bankruptcy Attorney Crazy!

Today is one of those days I have to vent.  I know, you’re thinking that this is not a good format for venting, after all, I am supposed to be dealing with bankruptcy issues in Fort Collins…  But there are those days that being a bankruptcy attorney in Fort Collins is not as sexy as it might sound.  Bear with me today as I go over some of my current frustrations, and hopefully you will at least learn how not to frustrate your bankruptcy attorney in Fort Collins to the brink of driving his car into oncoming traffic.
Few people realize it, but the main reason why attorneys do not give out their personal cell phones is due to a very small portion of clients who ruin the system for everyone.  Many of my Chapter 7 bankruptcy clients and Chapter 13 bankruptcy clients are fine individuals who are generous and respectful people, who only call when there is an actual question or issue at stake.

Then there are the 3 percent-ers.

You know who you are.  You are the person who stares at the clock at 10 pm on a Sunday, and with burning question in mind picks up the  phone to call your attorney’s emergency contact “do not call unless you are on fire or in jail and on fire” number.

A = Attorney
C = Client

C Mr. Attorney?

A Yes?

C I know that its late…is this a good time?

A Well, I’m actually just finished putting the 2 year old to bed and the wife just collapsed so I…

C <cutting off>  Good good, this will just take a second.  You know that issue that you went over with me 40 times last week and I didn’t like the answer?  You know, about keeping my three porsches and the 40K in cash under the bed?  I wanted to know, have you done any more research on this…I read an article that Obama had changed things.

A <stoney silence>

A No, nothing has changed.  We went over this on Friday.

C Really?  I don’t remember this, are you sure?  I thought you told me when I hired you that this was a sure thing?

<sound of phone being thrown against the wall>

C Hello?  Hello?

Now, to all the people that are reading this and thinking “Well, what a terrible thing to do to the bankruptcy attorney who I hired and keeps me safe and protects my financial future” feel free to call.  For the people that think “Well, I paid him a $500.00 retainer, he should be my genie at my beck and call or I will call the attorney I found scrawled on the back on an abandoned Westword” please do our profession a favor and throw yourself in front of the nearest bus.

Then there are the scammers.  Here is the bottom line.  You will get caught.  You will be caught, you will be exposed, and the lies you tell and everyone you throw under the bus (including your attorney) to ensure that you get your way will eventually trip you up and land you flat on your ass.

Lying to the court is bad enough…lying to the attorney who is representing you to this court is just stupid.  Mind blowing, epic, stupidity.

I have actually had potential client in Fort Collins bounce a check off of our office.  A bankruptcy client, who writes a check…and BOUNCES it.  Intentionally.  Just so we would take him as a client.  Sigh.

Some Slavery Still Exists

For those of you that believed slavery was a thing of the past, it would frighten you to know that it is alive and well in our court system.

Meet Frank, a well polished articulate Italian lawyer with a thriving practice, good clients, and a desire to help the less fortunate.  Frank volunteered to work a pro bono case, which for those of you not up on your Fox legal drama shows means working for free.  No money.  Yes, this does break the mold a bit for us attorneys.

His client, we will call her Sally Dingdong, is a seriously under medicated ward of the state, accused of trying to electrocute her cat in the tub with a toaster in order to “Send Mr. Mittens to a higher state of being.”  As laudable a goal as this was, the state of Colorado decided it was a crime and arrested Sally and confiscated the sodden yet still smoking Mr. Mittens.

Frank entered his appearance in the case as a pro bono matter, and even bought Sally a suit OUT OF HIS OWN POCKET so that she would be presentable to the court.  However halfway through the trial, relationships broke down so badly that Frank was forced to bow out and let Sally represent herself in the action.  It should be stated that Sally actually had “fired” Frank several times during the trial, demanding another attorney who was “competent.”  Frank is one of the best trial attorneys I know, and has over 20 years of experience in criminal matters…this was not Sally’s best decision.  Finally, weary of the verbal abuse and attacks against his character, Frank reluctantly announced to the judge that things had broken down so badly that he should be excused from counsel and permit Sally to represent herself. 

Request denied.

Yup, you heard it.  The client wished to fire the attorney, and the attorney wished to quit, and the judge said no.  We work in a profession that allows the sanctioned forced labor of our services, and we risk contempt charges and jail times if we refuse the decree from the bench.  This is the equivalent of a doctor wrestling an angry patient to the ground to take an x-ray when the patient doesn’t even want the treatment.

I will state that we still have the best system of law in the world, and that I love my country, but I cannot believe I work in a profession that allows this to happen on such a regular basis.  The time and effort required to fire a client is immense, and often draws forth a grievance from the state bar from the angry client.  If there was one facet I could change in my profession, it would be allowing the complete unfettered right to hurl these nightmare clients from our office square into the mess they created for themselves.

Throwing Away Cash on a Bad Bankruptcy Attorney

Have you been considering a bankruptcy attorney in Fort Collins and are trying to save money because you are already in a financial pickle?  Once you are already in deep debt, paying an attorney only seems to make the debt pit get even deeper!  What are some things you can avoid so you don’t make a bad problem worse?

• Check and make sure the bankruptcy attorney you are dealing with is experienced in the paperwork and litigation sides of bankruptcy.
• Make sure to get a free consultation to see if you will qualify before you drop a grand in fees.
• Make sure the attorney working your case is actually working your case and not just pawning off to a paralegal.
• Don’t just go to the first attorney you read about (unless it’s us!)…  see what the BBB and Colorado bar has to say about your attorney.

We hope this helps get you rolling in this difficult process.  Feel free to call us to set up a time for a free bankruptcy consultation here in Fort Collins.