MORE DEBTORS GOING BANKRUPTCY
WITHOUT LAWYER. SAVE ON BANKRUPT FEES, DO IT CHEAP.
It would probably not surprise too many of us today, given the current
economic conditions in the nation and the long emerging national
statistics that show that more and more Americans all across the
country have been filing personal bankruptcy at astronomical levels.
But a recent national random sample pulling made by one researcher
about chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcy cases filed by American
debtors during the two month period of July and August of 2010, made
this significant finding: namely, that overall, a little more than 1
out of every 9 cases (11.3%) filed in the American bankruptcy courts,
were filed by the debtors themselves, WITHOUT
using an attorney. In deed, the pulling, which was done by
Professor Robert Lawless of the University of Illinois Law School, a
well-known expert on bankruptcy and credit law, showed that the rate of
non-attorney filings by debtors, was higher in chapter 13 cases (13.8%)
than it was in chapter 7 (10.1%). In short, today more debtors are
undergoing bankruptcy without lawyer.
An interesting piece of information, no doubt!
But note, though, that these specific figures are
yet merely a "national average." You should note that, though
significant, this figure of 1 in 9 bankruptcy filings being done
without an attorney, will probably not really strike many experts who
are knowledgeable in the field as particularly dramatic or
representative of the whole statistics. In deed, as Lawless himself
pointed out, a fact long-established in bankruptcy administration has
been that there are some court districts across the United States in
which the rate of persons who file bankruptcy without a lawyer, is in
fact as high as 30%. Or more! As in major urban areas, for example,
such as California, New York city, etc. In such districts, debtors save
on bankruptcy fees with petition preparer, as there is really no such
thing as low-cost bankruptcy lawyer.
BUT WHAT DOES THIS DO TO THE
LAWYERS' ARGUMENT THAT BANKRUPTCY IS SO "COMPLEX, and Hence Requires
and Justifies the Lawyers High Fees in Bankruptcy"?
Nevertheless, this current release of the Lawless survey is very
significant. The Lawless survey which shows that nationwide at least a
significant proportion of bankruptcy filers, some 1 out of 9 of them
(and the findings by other data which show that up to 30% or more in
certain larger urban court districts) do so without using attorney,
immediately throws a big wrench in one basic argument of the organized
bar and bankruptcy lawyers obviously engaged in the protection of their
lucrative business of bankruptcy filings. A major favorite of
bankruptcy lawyers and common argument often heard from them, is that
probably the most important reason why the job of doing what is,
essentially, a FINANCIAL business of bankruptcy filing, should be left
solely to remain the exclusive preserve of "attorneys," is that,
according to them, the process involved in filing bankruptcy is a
"complex" undertaking. According to them, doing bankruptcy work is
unusually a forbidding task too difficult for anyone, except for the
"highly skilled and educated" type, to do, and if you're a debtor even
with any thoughts whatsoever about doing bankruptcy yourself, maybe you
had better re-thing that, for, they say, nothing could be more foolish
or "risky" an undertaking for you to attempt! You simply, of course,
should just hire an "attorney" to walk you through it like a baby, they
say!
NOW THIS QUESTION: So
with this latest reminder just released, if bankruptcy is supposedly so
"complex" that only a person with presumably the special skills and
training of a bankruptcy "lawyer" can undertake it, then how is it that
such large number and huge proportion of debtors (some 10, 20 or 30% or
more of them, depending on which districts) who are not "attorneys,"
actually do it? And do it largely just as successfully and as well as
the lawyers, themselves? But is there ever really any such thing as
low-cost bankrupt lawyer?
"It's very interesting that the pro se rate for
the converted/dismissed chapter 13 cases, is the same as the overall
rate.," noted Professor Lawless about the findings of his survey.
Adding that "That would suggest that being pro se in chapter 13 is not
meaningfully associated with having one's case dismissed or converted."
Consequently, more debtors going bankruptcy without lawyer as they seek
to save on bankruptcy fees with petition preparer
FACT: Actually, the
reason the above situation is the actual case, is rather simple. The
reason is that, actually, the truth of the matter is that most personal
bankruptcies (or, for that matter, a good deal of small business
bankruptcies, as well) are really in deed simple. So much so, in fact,
experts (lawyers, court trustees, judges, etc) who specialize in
bankruptcy law and procedures, say, that you really don't need the
services of a lawyer to handle ordinary personal bankruptcy since they
are generally too simple, they say, and too elementary and largely
clerical to undertake.
Many experts who make such points generally cite
two basic reasons on which they base this claim: First, that an
overwhelming majority of personal bankruptcy cases are so-called "no
asset" or "minimum asset" cases - that is, cases in
which the owing debtors literally have or own absolutely NOTHING that
the creditors can claim or attach, let alone any money for paying the
lawyer's hefty fees; and second, the FACT that bankruptcy, they say, is
really a relatively simple matter (contrary to the layman's common
belief that bankruptcy is a complicated procedure), which often
actually involves the mere completion of simple routine forms and
submitting them to the local bankruptcy court.
Janice Kosel is a
Professor of law at Golden State University, San Francisco, and a
recognized author and expert on personal bankruptcy issues. She says:
"If you can do that [prepare your income tax return] you can probably
handle your... [bankruptcy] yourself..."
Stephen Elias,
California Attorney, prominent author and specialist in bankruptcy law,
most recently summed it up this way: "There is seldom a good reason to
use an attorney in a consumer Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. The procedures
are almost exclusively administrative - that is, there is no appearance
before a judge...The forms are all (with very few exceptions)
pre-printed in plain English...[But, in spite of
that fact], What's tragic is that people actually think they have to
have attorney representation [to be able to do it]."
And Jonathan B. Alper, practicing Florida
bankruptcy attorney, put it this way: "Most Chapter 7 consumer
bankruptcies are relatively simple and [hence the] legal fees are
[should be] low compared to other legal work." Do bankruptcy cheap?
IN SUM
Is there any way to do bankruptcy cheap? Summed up
simply, an important objective reality already - an established FACT,
according to a recent research finding cited above - is that at least 1
out of every 9 debtors (and it's even much higher than that in certain
parts of the nation) who file for bankruptcy across America today, file
it WITHOUT using a lawyer. That there are more debtors going bankruptcy
without lawyers. Rather, they file bankruptcy, in stead, with the
assistance of a non-attorney service called the Debt Relief Agency or
Bankruptcy Petition Preparer - usually well-trained and experienced
paralegals specialized in bankruptcy document preparation and
procedures, but who offer their services to debtors at far lower and
more AFFORDABLE cost than the lawyer's fees. Given this reality, it
becomes clear that as a debtor probably contemplating filing
bankruptcy, you need NOT, as the bankruptcy lawyers are often wont to
claim you should, necessarily run to or use a person titled a "lawyer"
whenever you wish to file bankruptcy, or necessarily have to pay
exorbitant legal fees usually associated with attorney involvement in
bankruptcies. Rather, you have a real option that you may choose to
exercise - a non-attorney
bankruptcy option that could be just as effective in getting
you a bankruptcy filing, but which is low-cost and more affordable.
With bankruptcy fees still rising, you can definitely save on bankrupt
fees with petition preparer.
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
Wish to join the growing army of restive,
financially hard-pressed bankruptcy seekers across America today who
seem increasingly to prefer and flock to available "non attorney"
assistance and services to get their bankruptcy filing done, but at
costs that are low, low, and affordable? Or, may be you want pointers
on how to end the "too broke to even declare bankruptcy" problem
confronted by many debtors today, through using a good, reliable
Federally-approved Debt Relief Agency or Bankruptcy Petition Preparer
to do a successful bankruptcy filing for yourself at an incredibly
low-cost that you can well afford? Please visit this site: http://
www.afford-bankruptcy.com
Article Source: http://
www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/more-debtors-
going-bankruptcy-without-lawyer-save-on-bankruptcy-fees-using-
petition-preparer-3483846.html About the Author
Benjamin Anosike, Ph.D.,
has been dubbed by experts and reviewers of his many books, manuals and
body of work, which dwell largely on self-help law issues, as "the man
who almost literally wrote the book on the use of self-help law
methods" by America's consumers in doing their own routine legal chores
- in uncontested divorce, will-making, simple probate, settlement of a
dead person's estate, simple no-asset bankruptcy, etc. A pioneer and
intellectual and moral leader of the 1970s-based "you do your own law"
movement and a lifelong vehement advocate and veteran of historical
battles for the right of the American consumers to perform their own
tasks in the area of routine legal matters, Anosike was one of the
pioneers who fought and survived (along with many others of courage)
the lawyers' and organized bar's stiff war of the 1970s and '80s
against American consumers and entrepreneurs who merely sought, then,
to use, write, distribute or sell law-related self-help books and kits
for non-lawyers to do their own law, upon the lawyers' claim then that
such was purportedly "unauthorized practice of law" or "practicing law
without a license."
Anosike holds graduate degrees in labor economics
and management and a Ph.D. in jurisprudence. Once characterized by a
review of the American Library Association's Booklist Journal as
"probably the most prolific author in the field of legal self-help
today," Dr Anosike is the author of over 26 books and manuals (and
countless number of articles) on various topics of American law,
including 4 volumes on personal and business bankruptcy filing, in a
lifetime of dedication. For more on the subject matter discussed in
this article, or on how to get a low-cost, affordable bankruptcy
filing, or the author's other books and manuals, visit this site: http://www.Afford-Bankruptcy.Com |
