Q: Do I need a lawyer to file bankruptcy?

A: There is no requirement to retain an attorney. However, your chances of getting the relief that you are entitled to receive will be greatly enhanced by retaining the services of an experienced bankruptcy attorney. Through the years, I have been retained by clients that tried to file their bankruptcy themselves because they were about to loose an asset that they did not even realize was an asset and they failed to list or properly exempt. Many of these clients ended up spending far more than they would have had they contacted me in the beginning.

Lawyers do not represent themselves for a reason. They understand that even though they have the legal training, sometimes they cannot see the issues clearly because they are emotionally involved. If you are not an attorney, you compound that problem with the fact that you do not have the experience of handling thousands of bankruptcy cases that many experienced bankruptcy attorneys have.

In 2011, the US Courts released a study about the success of pro se debtors. You should read this paragraph from that study:

Chapter 13 is typically considered the chapter of choice for those wage-earners seeking to catch up on missed car or house payments and avoid repossession of a vehicle or foreclosure of a home. Confirmation of the chapter 13 plan that provides for payment of such arrearages over many months is necessary to begin the process of making up for missed payments. Completion of a chapter 13 plan through discharge can take 36 to 60 months, and is very difficult to achieve even in attorney-represented cases. Approximately 55 percent of attorney-represented cases reach confirmation. The number of self-represented debtors that manage to get to confirmation of a chapter 13 plan is 0.4 percent – clearly demonstrating that it is nearly impossible for this population to succeed in chapter 13.

That means that 550 out of 1000 attorney represented chapter 13 debtors are able to get their chapter 13 plan confirmed while 4 out of 1000 pro se debtors get their chapter 13 plan confirmed. Here is the link to the entire study:

http://ecf-ciao.cacb.uscourts.gov/Communications/prose/annualreport/2011/sectioniib.htm

You really need to take the time to meet with an experienced bankruptcy attorney that handles chapter 7 and chapter 13 cases. Most attorneys will meet with you at no charge for the initial appointment. You can use the Justia "Find a Lawyer" link at the top of this page to search for an attorney.

A: There's more to bankruptcy than just filling out the forms. While you are free to file for bankruptcy on your own, mistakes in bankruptcy can be costly. A bankruptcy attorney can do more than complete forms for you--he or she can advise you on whether bankruptcy is the best option for you, which type of bankruptcy will best protect your property, help ensure that you have claimed all applicable exemptions and protected important assets like your home and vehicle, and help determine which if any of your debts should be disputed and which if any debts you'll want to reaffirm.

An attorney can also field creditor calls for you, help you enforce the automatic stay (and perhaps even collect damages on your behalf if creditors don't comply with the law).

If you're considering Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the issues are even more complex, and may be even more difficult to navigate without expert guidance.

When making the decision as to whether to hire an attorney, you'd do well to consider the cost of representation as compared with the possible cost of making a mistake or neglecting to address an important issue in your bankruptcy case.

A: No, but you should have one.