Do Not Be Afraid to Request More Detail from Law Firms Who Send you Client Intake Forms that are Not Complete

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I started working for a Chapter 13 attorney for the first time today. I sent the attorney a set of personalized 713Training.Com Client Intake Forms but he already had 2 clients who had filled out his law firm’s intake forms before receiving mine.

The paralegal called and asked me: “Can I send you the client intake forms we used instead of the ones you supplied us for these 2 clients?” I responded: “As long as all the information from my client intake forms is provided on your client intake forms, that will be fine.” The paralegal immediately replied: “Yes, everything is the same.”

I should have known better. From past experience, I knew the paralegal had not sat down and compared page to page with my 713Training.Com Client Intake Forms. She only wanted to get the workload off her shoulders and simply responded to me in a positive manner. Unfortunately, this approach didn’t work with me. But for some of you working as virtual bankruptcy assistants, you would rather not say anything and accept a situation like this. So I decided to write this quick article to help you stand up and do the right thing.

Why is Detail so Extremely Important in Client Intake Forms?

As stressed throughout all my training materials, it is extremely important to get detail from the clients and make sure this information is spelled out on the Client Intake Forms. Why? Here are just a couple of reasons:

1. Under the new bankruptcy law, an attorney can be fined for not providing complete information on the bankruptcy petition. Therefore, if the client leaves any information blank on the Client Intake Forms, it is impossible to prove whether the question does not apply to the client or if the client missed the question. So, if a question on the Client Intake Forms does not apply to the client, the client must write “not applicable” or “NA” on the line to indicate they have read the question but it does not apply to them. If the Trustee later finds out the client should have answered the question and did not do so in an attempt to conceal assets, the attorney will be protected because he or she has evidence they asked the client but the client responded with “not applicable.”

2. Secure assets need to provide exact money figures because even a few pennies can make the difference in a Means Test. For example, clients have a tendency to record mortgage payments in round numbers, such as $1,000.00 per month. However, I have seen in some situations when the exact amount should have been $1,020.62 (for example) and it made a difference between the clients qualifying for a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 in the Means Test. It doesn’t happen all the time, but this is one good reason why it is important to get EXACT figures for secure assets. (Note: Exact figures are not this critical for unsecure assets, but why not make it a habit for all debts and then you don’t have to worry about it.)

Suggestion

If you do not have a set of free 713Training.Com Client Intake Forms for debtor bankruptcy clients, download a set now at http://www.713training.com/intake_forms/

When your attorney (or their paralegal) sends you a set of client intake forms to prepare a bankruptcy petition, compare the information they sent you with the information required on the 713Training.Com Client Intake Forms. If the information is scanty or there is a lot of pages containing no information, contact the attorney or the paralegal right away and offer the following suggestions before you begin input into your bankruptcy software:

1. You can transfer the information to the 713Training.Com Client Intake Forms, fax them back and have the paralegal call the client to obtain all the missing information. (I would suggest you charge $50 or more to do this.)

2. Have the paralegal contact the clients and have them fill out the 713Training.Com Client Intake Forms because they did not provide all the detail needed from the other forms.

3. Ask the paralegal or attorney if you can call the client and do a complete client intake interview over the phone. Fill out the 713Training.Com Client Intake Forms for the clients. (I would suggest you charge an extra $100 or more to do this since it will take from 1-2 hours of your time.)

Summary

It is important for you, as a virtual bankruptcy assistant, to adhere to strict and disciplined principles to ensure our professional remains dependable. If you decide to “cut corners” and provide less than substandard services, it will only take one attorney to be fined $1,000s of dollars because of your neglect, and it will give our entire profession a “bad” reputation.

Do not be afraid to take a stand and demand absolute perfection in the level of detail you need BEFORE you begin input of any bankruptcy petition. It will pay off “big time” in the long run for you, the law firm and the attorney you are working for.

Written by Victoria Ring
Certified Paralegal and CEO, 713Training.Com, LLC
D-U-N-S Number: 011172411