John Christopher Crowder

John Crowder

A central purpose of the Bankruptcy Code is to provide a procedure by which certain insolvent debtors can reorder their affairs, make peace with their creditors, and enjoy "a new opportunity in life and a clear field for future effort, unhampered by the pressure and discouragement of preexisting debt” Grogan v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279, 286, 111 S. Ct. 654, 659 (1991). Mr. Dunham you visited our offices on November 18, 2019 and we provided you with a free consultation regarding bankruptcy. We discussed the available chapter of bankruptcy and qualifying income factors. You elected to retain our offer to prepare a Chapter 7 petition. On November 25, 2019 you returned the requested information, this was the week of Thanksgiving. The following Tuesday on December 3, 2019 was your scheduled signing. In the three business day following the return of the necessary financial documents we prepared a Chapter 7 petition including a Means Test. The Means Test is a required form filed in all consumer Chapter 7 cases. The Means Test reflects your actual financial picture and not just the estimated number you provided in the initial consult. Your Means Test reflected a presumption of abuse. Therefore in order to better counsel you on all options available we prepared a draft Chapter 13 plan of reorganization. On December 3, 2019 we met at the scheduled time, advised you of the failed Means Test, and counseled on all alternative options including Chapter 13. You asked for time to consider your options. A week later you called back. We attempted to further counsel you on the available options. You lost your tempter and used vulgarity. We tried very patiently to help you understand the available option so you could make an informed decision on how to deal with your economic problems, and the benefits of the available options. Mr. Dunham we spent a considerable amount of time preparing your Chapter 7 petition as well as further counseling you on available options. After you lost your temper and were unable to engage in further constructive conversation we declined to represent you further. Upon termination we calculated our time incurred only on preparing the Chapter 7 and unused filing fees, thereby refunding the remaining balance.