How To Choose The Right Lawyer

Which lawyer should I go to?

This is an extremely important question.

The bottom line is that experience does matter. And the more experience the better. What's hard is that...to the public...we bankruptcy attorneys sort of all look the same.

Filing bankruptcy will have a significant impact on your life for years to come.....and to makes things much worse, bankruptcy law is very complex, with many twists and turns, and traps for the unwary. In fact, it's so complex and complicated that non-bankruptcy attorneys tend to avoid it like the plague. If you need to file bankruptcy...choosing the right lawyer is critical.

Don't take chances.

Here are some of the questions to ask in order to find the best available bankruptcy.

"Click" on the topic of interest.  

1. Do you practice bankruptcy law full-time?

In my experience, you want a full-time lawyer, who spends all his or her time getting better at representing people in bankruptcy. You want a lawyer who knows the Bankruptcy Code and the local rules....inside and out, who has a good, established credibility with the local Trustee, who has a good reputation before the local Bankruptcy Judge, who knows which way the local Bankruptcy Judge tends to lean on certain key issues, and who enjoys the respect of the local creditor lawyers.

What I believe you don't want is the lawyer jack-of-all-trades....who does a little of everything...including bankruptcy. Think about it. He or she may be great at handling a real estate closing, drafting a will or and taking care of a speeding ticket...but the fact is....if a lawyer does anything other than bankruptcy..... he or she is obviously not spending all his or her time learning and staying sharp on bankruptcy law. There is a reason that lawyers limit their law practices to one area of law or another....and you want the lawyer that does nothing but bankruptcy law for a living.

For instance....

What about the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt?

The answer is "Yes".

In fact....all 7 of our lawyers do nothing but bankruptcy law.

If the answer is "None", you may want to run (don't walk) away from that attorney. Even if the answer is 20 cases, that's not enough experience. Find someone who has done hundreds, if not thousands of Chapter 13 cases, and then don't stop there. Move on to the next question.

What about the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt

We have filed thousands and thousands of Chapter 13 cases. We estimate that we have filed over 20,000 Chapter 13 cases in all.

This is the one national association for consumer bankruptcy attorneys. Not all good bankruptcy attorneys are a member, but membership in this organization is generally a good indication of a strong commitment to providing the very best in bankruptcy services to the public.
What about the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt?

All 8 of our lawyers are active members of NACBA. John Orcutt has been a member since 1996. Our Ed Boltz is a member of the NACBA Board of Directors.