on the Bankruptcy Soapbox

My colleague Jonathan Ginsberg started a conversation on the Bankruptcy Law Network about a debtor’s duties after the bankruptcy case is filed. His message to debtors was “be engaged.” I tell clients that I can file a case “with you” but not “for you.”; in other words, I cannot do it alone. There’s more I want clients to know.
My first clarion call is “read what the court and I send you“. I don’t send my clients documents for the exercise; I send them so the client can see what is going on and what I have done on their behalf. Much of a bankruptcy case plays out in the paper.

Read what you have signed so you can point out any errors or omissions. Innocent mistakes that the debtor identifies and corrects are seldom a problem in a case. Mistakes are common and harmless if fixed.

Keep me posted on major events in your life: have you moved, changed jobs, become entitled to an inheritance, gotten too sick to work for a while. Each of these things bears on bankruptcy issues.

Ask me questions about things you don’t understand. I can’t tell that you are confused unless you tell me. There is no reason you should understand bankruptcy the first time through. I’m still seeing subltities after 27 years of doing this. So let me know when you are lost. At bottom, there are decisions in a bankruptcy case that only the client can make, so you have to have some understanding of the issue to make a good decision.

Respond promptly when I ask for documents or information. A bankruptcy case moves on a short timeline and delay can be harmful.

Don’t fret unnecessarily. Bankruptcy may be new and strange to you, but my staff and I are experienced and most bankruptcies are routine. There is no reason to lay awake nights terrified of some horror you’ve dreamed up. If it worries you, ask me about it.

There is more on the statutory duties of a debtor on Bankruptcy in Brief.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 at 7:29 am and is filed under How bankruptcy works, You & your lawyer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.