FEES AND COSTS
Fees and costs break down as follows:
Attorney Fees: My office usually charges attorney fees on a flat fee "plus" basis - a sliding scale, depending on income, amount of debt, complexity of the case and Chapter of bankruptcy filed. Certain events or issues bring an additional charge above the flat fee.
Chapter 7 cases can usually range from $850 up to $2,500 for attorney fees (or higher for business cases or very complex issues).
Chapter 13 cases can range from $3,000 up to $5,000, or more for attorney fees (Chapter 13 cases can last up to 5 years, and there may be extra motion practice to fight creditor claims and motions to dismiss, strip off second mortgages, reduce car loans, or value property.)
In addition, other costs usually include:
Court filing fees: Costs are usually $335 for a Chapter 7 and $310 for a Chapter 13 case. Amendments and motion practice would cost extra based on the scheduled fees the Court posts for such events.
Mandatory Course Certificate costs: All clients are required by the court to take a special mandatory credit counseling course from an accredited vendor before filing the case, and a followup debt management course after filing of the case. Costs vary from $10 - $50 per course, depending on the vendor. I prefer certain vendors because they are less expensive.
Other administrative costs include: copying, mailings to creditors (which can be expensive in a Chapter 13 case due to the amount of mailings required), and credit report costs.
Audits: One in a thousand cases may be randomly audited by the Office of the US Trustee and in the event of an audit, work is billed separately.
Adversary Proceedings: AP's are a special form of full scale litigation against the debtor, but the cases are held in the Bankruptcy Court instead of State court. These cases are billed separately, have a different case number, and can be expensive, as I bill hourly against a new retainer.
