Prior to filing bankruptcy, you will want to setup a free consultation with Pohl Bankruptcy to determine if bankruptcy is the best option. During the free consultation, Pohl Bankruptcy will review your financial situation and provide a proposed plan for resolving your financial issues. To ensure that the meeting is productive and meaningful, it is requested that you bring copies of your last three paystubs (if applicable), copies of the last six bank statements for any and all bank accounts that you are a signatory on, copies of your most recent tax return, copies of your most recent mortgage statement (if applicable) and copies of your most recent car loan statement (if applicable).
If the plan requires that you file personal bankruptcy, you will be advised to take a credit counseling course. Prior to filing a personal bankruptcy, each person needs to complete a credit counseling course. Here is a list of the approved credit counseling courses: https://www.justice.gov/ust/list-credit-counseling-agencies-approved-pursuant-11-usc-111
In addition to completing a credit counseling course, you will also need to complete a bankruptcy questionnaire. This questionnaire can be completed online by using MyCaseInfo, Start Your Questionnaire or you can request a hard copy of the questionnaire from your attorney to complete by hand.
Please note that bankruptcy may not be the best option for your particular financial situation, and Pohl Bankruptcy seeks to develop a unique plan to address your particular situation whether it involves filing bankruptcy, negotiating a consolidated loan or repayment plan. Every case is unique, and Pohl Bankruptcy takes the time to create a plan accordingly.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ANY PERSON WHO KNOWINGLY AND FRAUDULENTLY CONCEALS ASSETS OR MAKES A FALSE OATH OR STATEMENT UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY IN CONNECTION WITH A CASE IN BANKRUPTCY SHALL BE SUBJECT TO A FINE, IMPRISONMENT, OR BOTH. ADDITIONALLY, ALL INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY A DEBTOR IN CONNECTION WITH A CASE IN BANKRUPTCY IS SUBJECT TO EXAMINATION BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. FURTHERMORE, THE ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE MAY NOT APPLY IN SOME BANKRUPTCY CASES.
Confidentiality Of Attorney Client Privilege In Bankruptcy
Filing for bankruptcy is a big decision, and many factors should be considered: the cost versus the potential benefit, the possibility of objections from creditors to a discharge, the long-term effect on one’s credit rating, among many others. Here’s one more: Entering bankruptcy may force the disclosure of conversations a debtor has had with his or her attorneys before filing for bankruptcy. Under certain circumstances, control over the attorney-client privilege can pass from the debtor to the bankruptcy trustee.
The attorney-client privilege is the oldest privilege for confidential communications under the common law. Generally, the privilege protects communications between lawyers and their clients and presumes that full and frank communications promote the public interests of law and justice. However, because the privilege results in the exclusion of relevant evidence, thus hampering judicial fact-finding, the party claiming the privilege must establish its applicability, and, when the privilege applies, courts construe it narrowly. The privilege is held by the client and can be waived only by the client – normally. Once that client becomes a debtor in bankruptcy, however, the bankruptcy trustee steps into the shoes of the debtor. Thus, the trustee can pursue claims that belonged to the debtor pre-petition and now belong to the bankruptcy estate.
In some cases, those claims arise out of pre-bankruptcy litigation involving the debtor. For example, assume the debtor has been involved in an accident and been sued. Claims can arise when the debtor’s liability insurer defended the debtor and a judgment was entered against the debtor that exceeded available insurance coverage. Such “bad faith” claims often accuse the insurer of providing its insured a deficient defense or conducting settlement negotiations without the insured’s best interest in mind. In some cases, malpractice claims against the attorney the insurer retained to defend its insured may also exist. In such cases, the attorney’s files, including communications with the client (now debtor) and the insurer, can be a gold mine for the trustee. The question then becomes: Can the trustee, standing in the shoes of the debtor, waive the attorney-client privilege and gain access to the attorney’s files?
Are you ready to file for bankruptcy?
Setup a free consultation with a bankruptcy professional to determine the best option for your situation.
How Pohl Can Help
If you have questions or concerns or are unsure of where to start, don’t worry! Schedule a free consultation with Robert Pohl. No matter the financial situation you may be facing, we will work with you to find the solution to get your life back on track.
