Let’s face it, if you are consulting us for debt problems, you are going to have concerns about paying attorneys fees.
If you had lots of money to pay attorneys fees, you probably wouldn’t be coming to see us at Steidl and Steinberg. Add to that the absolute misconception that our firm is so big that you will probably be paying more for us than for a “normal” attorney, and what happens? You think about calling someone else rather than Steidl and Steinberg.
I want to share with you some of the phone calls I have received over the last two months from people who had decided to use attorneys other than us. Please keep in mind that most of the attorneys that you will consider are fine attorneys, and the phone calls I received do not represent the typical attorney that you would use. But these were real calls, nevertheless.
Client one called. She is in a Chapter 13 Reorganization Bankruptcy with another attorney. She wanted my help. She said her attorney doesn’t call her back, had allowed payments in her plan to increase without her consultation or consent, and she is panicked that she may lose her house. I couldn’t discuss her specific case with her for ethical reasons, but I asked her, “By the way, I’m just curious, why did you pick this attorney?” I didn’t ask her the attorney’s name at that time. She told me that she thought we would be too expensive and therefore she went to someone who advertised low rates. After she got off the phone, I checked the court docket out of curiosity and saw how much the attorney was charging her. Though the total bankruptcy fees were the same as ours, her attorney charged her $500 more up front to file her papers than my office typically does. She was wrong; we don’t charge more, and sometimes we charge less, than most attorneys most of our clients will consider.
Client two called. He gave me enough information that I was able to quote him a price. He told me that he was quoted a price that was a couple of hundred dollars less from another attorney. I asked if that quoted amount included all fees and costs, and if that was a final amount from which he would not have to pay any more money. The potential client told me he didn’t know. Often, when clients are quoted fees, they are not told about court costs or some other fees that some attoneys charge as a normal part of their business. The other charges may be perfectly reasonable, but there is no way of knowing unless get a final number from the attorney.
Client number three after his bankruptcy ended. I checked while I was speaking to him and discovered he wasn’t our client but had used someone else to represent him. I was able to check online to find out that his attorney had charged him about $150 less than we normally charged. So why was this person calling me? He was having some problems after his case was over that were related to his supposedly finished case. I asked him why he didn’t just call his attorney who handled the case, and he told me that his attorney never calls him back and he needed help. The client then said “I wish I would have used you from the start. You have been so helpful. I will recommend you to everyone I come into contact with.”
Is getting that kind of service important to you? Do you think we are more expensive at Steidl and Steinberg? Most likely, we are not, and are often less expensive. Do you think that we are so big that we don’t care about you? We pride ourselves on personal and prompt contact, even from the partners whose names are on the door. How much is the peace of mind knowing your case was well handled worth to you? Give us a chance first; chances are that you won’t be disappointed.