I would like to thank those of you have ordered training materials, downloaded the VBA Exam and taken the Chapter 13 Concepts Open Book Exam. Although I do not know how many people downloaded the VBA Exam (since it is a free download), we have had 13 people order the Chapter 13 Concepts Open Book Exam and within less than 48 hours, 7 of those 13 have returned them for grading.
This is exciting and I am looking forward to working with some of you in an apprentice capacity very soon. However, we have had many questions over the past week that I would like to address in this article to help you decide if this opportunity is right for you:
QUESTION:
How much money will I get paid?
ANSWER:
Since I have no idea of the quality of your work, this is an impossible question for me to answer. I recently completed the training of Lawrence Sheline in an apprentice position so I urge you to contact him by email at: Lawrence@vba4attorneys.com if you have specific questions you need answered from a beginner’s point of view.
The first petition Lawrence prepared was very poor. However, he showed enthusiasm in wanting to know exactly what he did wrong so he could correct his mistakes. Because I spent 5 or 6 hours training Lawrence on his first petition and redoing it over completely, he did not want to be paid since he felt the individual training I gave him was worth much more. (This was his decision, not mine.) The second petition he did was much better and he ended up getting paid for his time. Lawrence continued to get raises for each petition he completed and eventually he was in a position to earn $650 from every $700 Chapter 13 petition he prepared.
For those of you considering working under my training and direction, you need to understand that this is an opportunity for you to own and operate your own VBA business. I am not seeking people to work for me as an employee. I am seeking people who will eventually become independent contractors with their own attorney client base which I will build for them only after they have been trained and have worked under my management.
Notice: If you need to make money next week to pay bills, you should try to find at least temporary work in a law firm. Even if you are answering phones, you will be working in the legal environment and be able to pay your living expenses while you build your VBA skills.
QUESTION:
What do you get out of this?
ANSWER:
In the beginning of your training, I receive payment for my time in training you by keeping a portion of the fee the attorney pays for the petition processing. Plus, I completely review the petitions and return them to you so you can fix your mistakes so I can recheck them again and again until they are perfect. Additionally, I provide the law firm with an attorney-level of quality since I have 32 years of experience. This is not something a beginner or even a seasoned paralegal can provide; which is why the training I provide to you cannot be found anywhere else (unless you work for an experience bankruptcy attorney who personally trains you.)
After you have been fully trained and you have developed a good working relationship with the attorney you have been preparing petitions for, you and that attorney will start working together and you will not need me as much. When this happens, I will keep an ongoing fee of $50 for every petition you process. This $50 payment will allow you the opportunity to call me to answer any questions, which will further develop your skills until you reach the expert level.
In the overall scheme of things, I am not asking for much because I will invest a lot of time into your training during the beginning. But in the process, I will have a network of people I can rely on to process bankruptcy petitions for the attorney clients 713Attorney.Com serves.
QUESTION:
If I learn how to prepare petitions, how will I know that you will not become my competition?
ANSWER:
Believe it or not, after you have worked in debtor bankruptcy for 15 years, you will get sick of preparing petitions. You need to understand that I have prepared over 15,000 petitions during my career (probably more.) It is something I do not want to do on a continual basis. My expertise lies in training and setting up new debtor bankruptcy law firms; which is why I want to build a network of people who I can rely on to process the bankruptcy petitions. Hopefully, by this time next year, I will have enough people to handle the tremendous workload I generate from attorneys.
QUESTION:
If you do not want to prepare bankruptcy petitions, how can you generate work for me?
ANSWER:
Because bankruptcy attorneys call me and want me to prepare their bankruptcy petitions. They know I have 32 years of legal experience. They have read my books and trained from my materials to know that I have knowledge in this field. Also, they have heard from other attorneys that I know more about consumer bankruptcy than most attorneys. Attorneys do not want to trust their petition work to anyone else. Therefore, without marketing petition services, attorneys call the office on a daily basis asking me to do their petition work. With only 24 hours in a day and a company to run, it is impossible for me to fulfill all their requests; which is why I need people like you.
Keep in mind that the attorneys are aware that I am building a network of trained and reliable virtual bankruptcy assistants. As long as you are working under my direction, attorneys will be happy to work with you. After awhile, you will build up a good relationship with them because of the quality of your work. At that point you can work with the attorney directly. Therefore, it is to your advantage to work under my direction as an apprentice and earn the trust of attorneys over a period of time.
QUESTION:
If I already have experience working for a bankruptcy attorney do I still need to take your exams?
ANSWER:
Of course. I did not work beside you at the same law firm to know the quality of your work. You need to realize that I receive sometimes 3 or 4 petitions a week that have been messed up by paralegals. Attorneys file their petitions in court and the court files objections due to errors. For example, just this past week I had to correct an error on Schedule C because the paralegal (who claims she was experienced) mixed the 703 and 704 exemptions allowances on an Oakland, California petition. I see so many errors from people claiming they have experience that having experience means almost nothing any more. Today, you have to prove it, not just say it.
Additionally, just because you know how to prepare bankruptcy petitions does not mean that you know how to properly handle clients. I accepted a lady into the apprentice program just recently who scored high on the VBA Exam. However, when she called the client she scared her to death. She demanded the client provide a recent appraisal on her home even though she did not need one since the house was being surrendered. The client was so scared that she actually drove to the attorney’s home, interrupted his family during dinner by banging on the door. It took the attorney 30 or 40 minutes to calm her down. After handling the issue he called me and was very angry. I almost lost the attorney’s business because of the VBAs behavior. It took several hours out of my weekend to deal with this. I called the client, apologized for the incident, took the case back and spent 4 days correcting the errors this VBA made. Needless to say, the VBA never called and asked what she did wrong. Naturally, I will never use her services again.
Perhaps sharing these two minor issues with you will help to explain why I cannot accept you on experience alone. It is mandatory that you (1) Complete the VBA Exam and score 90% or higher; (2) Complete the Chapter 13 Concepts Exam and score 80% or higher; and (3) Join the NAVBA which provides you with access to private teleconference meetings we hold every month to build your skills as a VBA.
QUESTION:
How many positions are open and am I too late to apply?
ANSWER:
I would eventually like to have 100+ reliable VBAs but to reach that number will take a lot of time. No, you are not too late to apply as there is enough work out there for many more people. Watch the news tonight on television and you will see that the financial crisis is growing larger. More companies are closing. More people are out of work. Florida attorneys have told me horror stories of how families are living in tents and cooking on two burner Coleman stoves because they were unable to pay their mortgage. Open your eyes and you will see the world is suffering and the bankruptcy filings are increasing.
To help shock you into reality, visit http://www.abiworld.org (Click ONLINE RESOURCES, then BANKRUPTCY STATISTICS, then FILINGS BY CHAPTER, then ANNUAL, NON-BUSINESS FILINGS BY CHAPTER 2007-2008.)
First, you will immediately notice that most states have DOUBLED in filings between 2007 and 2008. For example, Florida had a total of 39,433 bankruptcy filings in 2007 and 63,726 in 2008. I can only imagine what the 2009 statistics will be. According to http://www.bankruptcy-statistics.com/ bankruptcy filings are up 50% from last year and they are still compiling the First Quarter of 2009.
If this information is not enough to convince you that there is enough work out there for 10,000 VBAs, nothing will. However, the key to success is the level of your expertise. Few people actually get to the expert level; not because they cannot do the work, but because they give up. Just like any work, bankruptcy can be frustrating. It requires the ability to think outside the box because there are no clear cut set of directions that apply across the board. Unless you have the determination to acquire those skills, you will not achieve the expert level.
SUMMARY
If you are the type of person that wants to achieve the expert level, I will invest the time to walk with you on that journey. During the journey you and I will build a working relationship that I hope will last throughout my lifetime. So if you can see past the trees and visualize the forest, follow the steps below and get started so we can begin working together soon.
1. Download the free VBA Exam and pass with a score of 90% or higher:
http://www.vbacertification.com
2. Download the Chapter 13 Concepts Exam and pass with a score of 80% or higher. This is an Open Book Exam which is why it is not free to download:
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=101
3. Join the NAVBA so you will have access to private information I only provide to members:
http://www.navba.org/administrator/signup.php
I look forward in working with you in the months ahead.
Victoria Ring, CEO
713Training and 713Attorney
http://www.713training.com
http://www.713attorney.com
