Effective November 1st there are new median income numbers for prescribed by the US Trustee’s office. The only state I have looked at is Minnesota. I don’t know if median incomes rose anywhere else, but here they seem to have dropped significantly. I am now in the process of reviewing the cases I am working on to see if these new numbers will create a problem.
There are a few cases I was hoping to file before the end of this month. For most if not all of them there is still something I need my client to provide, such as a counseling certificate, before the case can be filed. I will be trying to contact all of those clients to emphasize how important it is to not delay. Even if you can get by with the new numbers, the cases will certainly look better if we can use the old pre-November median income table. I have already posted the new median numbers on my Chapter 7 page.
I mentioned in my last post that the judges of the district were unhappy with many of the younger new lawyers who are filing bankruptcies but making all sorts of mistakes. They are also displeased to learn that many clients feel abandoned by their lawyers after the case is filed. The judges and the clerk of court are getting calls from debtors who can’t seem to get their lawyers on the phone. In other cases the clients have never actually met with the person who is supposed to be their lawyer, but have only worked with other staff in that lawyer’s office. To try to remedy some of this the judges have provided a new checklist – one for Chapter 7 cases and one for Chapter 13 cases. It lists what the lawyer is supposed to be responsible for and what the debtors are responsible for. Each list runs about five pages. A copy of both lists can be found on my site under a link labeled “responsibility forms.” I guess I don’t mind the forms, although they do create more work. I just wish they weren’t needed.
