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How to Find the Best Banruptcy Lawyer in Phoenix, or Scottsdale, Mesa, Glendale, Tempe or Avondale, or Anywhere Else in Arizona or Elsewhere!

By Joseph McDaniel, Esq.

Let's get this straight. No matter what anybody tells you, the process of filing for bankruptcy is not a picnic. It is not fun, it is a lot of work, and the only reason that most people file is that the complicated, burdensome process of bankruptcy is a better alternative for them than burning through their 401(k) in a futile attempt to make creditors love them.

That said, there is now a parallel to overwhelming debt; it is the overwhelming amount of advertising from lawyers, non-lawyers, and others who want to take your money to help you with your debt.

Let's also get this straight; I'm in the business of taking your money to help you with your debt, so you need to consider that as you read what I write, so you understand my personal bias.

But this post isn't about me, because a lot of you can't hire me. You could if you lived in Arizona, whether that's Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale, Tempe, Paradise Valley or Avondale. Or anyplace else in Arizona.

But if you're in New Jersey, and you want to hire me, you are simply out of luck. I practice bankruptcy law in Arizona, as I have for thirty years.

So what to do?

Well, start by reading my blog. If you read the homework section of my blog, and do the homework, you'll be ahead of game in your first meeting with the bankruptcy lawyer of your choice in Tucumcari or Hoboken or Tuscaloosa.

Then settle back with a cup of coffee and get set to do a little on-line research in your quest to find the best bankruptcy attorney in the country for your case.

First, see if your lawyer has a blog, and if your lawyer wrote it. If so, you get the benefit (or detriment) of figuring out who the lawyer is prior to taking a drive to his office. Or her office.

Figure out (it ain't hard) whether the blog with your lawyer's name on it is written by him, or bought and paid for by him. You're smart; you can figure it out. That's not to say that a paid for ghost-written blog isn't fun or helpful. It just means that you can't do a walkaround inside your prospective lawyer's head by reading it. If he or she wrote the blog, read as much as you can stomach, and then go to step two.

Go to AVVO.com. The reason I like AVVO so much is that it literally permits ordinary consumers of legal services to compare bankruptcy lawyers as though they were books on Amazon.com. You'll be able to compare education, honors and awards, years in practice, work experience, bar activities at the county, state and American Bar Association levels, and seminars and articles and books written by your prospective bankruptcy lawyer.

The top level for lawyers in the AVVO.com rating system is 10.0 ("superb"), and you'll want to try to track down that sort of lawyer. If you can't, see if there are some in the high-end range who are available to you. Also look at their client testimonials, for heaven's sake. That's the easiest way to see how most of their clients feel about them. Don't be horrified by one or two bad reviews; remember that one in a hundred happy clients say something nice. One in one angry and unhappy clients say something rotten; and sadly, many clients go through an emotional roller-coaster for the days prior to filing and immediately after the filing of a bankruptcy.

Then go cross-check at Martindale.com. Martindale is the oldest and in some ways best respected of the lawyer directories in the United States, and it has its own proprietary system of lawyer ranking. The neato claim to fame of a Martindale ranking is that it reflects peer-review of a bankruptcy lawyer in Scottsdale, or anyplace else. Peer review, for a bankruptcy lawyer listed in Martindale, means that other lawyers, wearing masks and hoods and in dark, smoke-filled virtual rooms have voted on that lawyer and found him ethical and capable. Or unethical and dumb as a stump. But its a totally confidential process, so political power and the ability to punish and reward do not get reflected in a Martindale peer-review score.

I refer out a lot of cases in both insolvency and other areas of law; I generally like to refer to an AV rated lawyer if I can, because the lawyers who are AV rated are pre-screened for both ability (pre-eminent) and ethical behavior.

Note that most lawyers are not Martindale rated. The vast majority of those rated are CV rated lawyers, with smaller percentages, as you would expect, in the BV range, and then a very small number with ratings of "pre-eminent".

Once you've read their blog, and reviewed their AVVO listing, and checked them out on Martindale, see what the State Bar of Arizona, or your state, has to say about them.

Your state may or may not have board-certification for bankruptcy lawyers. If it does, by all means choose a board certified bankruptcy lawyer over a non-certified lawyer. Generally, board certification is a good, but not perfect, filter for decent quality bankruptcy lawyers.

If you've read the lawyer's blog, and you've checked out the lawyers on AVVO, Martindale, and your state bar website (often hard to navigate, by the way), then you've probably done as much background as makes sense.

You may want to review your lawyer on Findlaw or on SuperLawyers (no, I didn't make that up) as well.

One other test might be the simplest; Google the bankruptcy attorney by name and location, and see what you find.

Now make an appointment, after you do your homework, and see if you can stand him, and he can stand you. Or her and she. But you get the idea.

Note as well: if a bankruptcy lawyer, or any other lawyer, demands that you hire him or her on the same day you meet them, or if you get to meet first with a salesman who tries to use high-pressure tactics to scare you into signing that day, move on down the line. In some firms, you don't get to talk to a bankruptcy attorney until their commission-driven sales staff has lifted you by the ankles to shake the dough out of you.

And even once you've found a wonderful lawyer, remember this: we are in a depression, and bankruptcy lawyers who can both breathe and chew gum are fairly rare. They are therefore busy. Therefore, before you go visit with them for the first time, do your homework.

It will save your time, and their time, and time is valuable, particularly when you're no longer young. But that's a topic for a different blog.

Full post as published by Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney Blog on April 25, 2010 (boomark / email).