lawyer malfunction

[babysitter]

What is the name of your state?oh

My sis- in - law filed in KY at the beginning of Oct., paid her fee to the lawyer , had everything turned in, the whole nine yards. She has just received a letter in the mail last week from her lawyer stating that he forgot to submit the paperwork for her BK. He admits it was his fault and says that he will give her her money back. She then in turned stated that she is now behind on one months worth of bills. He apologized and said that maybe she should look into another lawyer doing it under the new laws. Long story short, she did that and it won't help her any...
Does she have any legal rights against this lawyer? He did tell her that she could sue him because he has insurance for these types of mistakes...She is so confused and I told her I would ask on here. If she does sue, would it just be for the money she is currently behind on for this past month or sue for what she would have had relief from under the old laws for BK?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Babysitter

 

[Ladynred]

Ok, first I have to ask - why won't filing under the current laws help her any ?
What is her situation ? Does she make more than the median income ?

What's the big deal of being behind on bills if she's going to file BK anyway ? Why waste the money paying creditors that would be discharged ?

The lawyer said he'd give her her money back - take it and find a new lawyer. How much she sues him for, if she goes that far, is up to her (within reason, of course).

 

[babysitter]

Ladyinred,
The info. that I got from her is that she filled out all of the paperwork to file a Ch. 7 - but under the new law she would have to file a Ch. 13. The new lawyer also told her that she should sue her first lawyer for not following through on his commitment/contract. (I don't know what it is called.) She said that now she is probably just going to suffer with the high CC's, and bills. They were going to keep their house. Has this ever happened before and if so, should they sue for the amount that would have been discharged and pay it off? Thanks for your help.
Babysitter

 

[toughluck73]

Ladyinred,
The info. that I got from her is that she filled out all of the paperwork to file a Ch. 7 - but under the new law she would have to file a Ch. 13. The new lawyer also told her that she should sue her first lawyer for not following through on his commitment/contract. (I don't know what it is called.) She said that now she is probably just going to suffer with the high CC's, and bills. They were going to keep their house. Has this ever happened before and if so, should they sue for the amount that would have been discharged and pay it off? Thanks for your help.
Babysitter

Suing under a Ch 7 would not do her any good. She would have to sue first, collect for damages, then file bk, in order to keep the money. Basically, in a ch 7, if she sues or has the ability to sue and collect for damages, those funds may have to be turned over if she can't exempt the funds. At the 341 meeting, one of the standard questions is "can you sue anyone?" If you can, it doesn't matter when you collect, just that the damages occurred and that make those funds fair game, and will likely be turned over to creditors.