Balance of Chapter 13 attorney fees are a debt in the Chapter 7 and
subject to discharge (although they are an adminstrative expense if
the Chapter 7 is an asset case). Your fee agreement in the Chapter
13 case had nothing to do with representing the debtor in a converted
Chapter 7 case, unless for some reason you agreed to work for free in
the later converted case. Any unpaid fees set forth in a
preconvesion contract between attorney and debtor for representation
in Chapter 7 are subject to discharge. I believe you have a quantum
meruit argument for unpaid postconversion services even if the
contract is unenforceable because of the discharge. Post conversion
you could enter into a new agreement for services to be provided
subsequent to conversion just like you would for a regular chapter 7
case. I will generally use the same approach and charge a flat fee
based upon the work needing to be performed in the converted case.
Otherwise you need to file a motion to be relieved or assume you are
working for free. I hate conversion cases because more times than
not you do not get paid for all the work in the converted Chapter 7
case after having not been paid for all your work in the Chapter 13
case.
Mark T. Jessee
Law Offices of Mark T. Jessee
"A Debt Relief Agency"
50 W. Hillcrest Drive, Suite 200
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
(805) 497-5868
On Wed 27/10/10 3:01 PM , Holly Roark
hollyroark22@gmail.com sent:
Let's say if you didn't get paid in full up front (maybe took 1/2),
and the case isn't going to get confirmed so you decide to convert:
do you just bill hourly, or is there a reasonable range for such a
service, considering you will need to go to another 341A and file
additional documents, etc.? I would really appreciate any input on
this.
--
Holly Roark
holly@roarklawoffices.com [1]
www.roarklawoffices.com [2]
Central District of California
Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney
Links:
[1] mailto:
holly@roarklawoffices.com
[2]
http://www.roarklawoffices.com
[3] mailto:
cdcbaa@yahoogroups.com?subjectWhat is a customary fee (or
range) to charge to convert from Ch 13 to Ch 7?
[4]
The post was migrated from Yahoo.