How Does a Bankruptcy Lawyer Spend a Workday?

Introduction

A bankruptcy lawyer has a varied and busy day. He will often pair his bankruptcy practice with another section of law--notably family law. Whether he practices only bankruptcy or a combination of bankruptcy law and another section of law, the duties of his daily job remain the same.

Continuation of Training

Attorneys are required to update their training throughout the year. While not a daily part of the job function, at some point during the day throughout the year, the bankruptcy lawyer must take continuing legal education (CLE) credits in order to keep his license to practice law. He will read articles and updates from the local bar association, usually on a weekly basis, so that he can keep up with any changes in the law. These changes are also taught in CLE classes.

Administrative

A bankruptcy lawyer's administrative duties depend on whether he is a senior partner, a junior partner, an associate or owner of the firm. Owners and senior partners have more administrative duties, such as payroll, tax reports, sales reports (managing of retainers) and employee benefits. All bankruptcy lawyers will return client calls throughout the day; they may call clients for more information and they may upload court pleadings and other documents via the case management/electronic case files (CM/ECF) system.

Daily Duties

Each day, the bankruptcy attorney may meet with clients, attend court hearings and attend a Meeting of Creditors. A Meeting of Creditors is held at the bankruptcy court and is part of the bankruptcy process. Each bankruptcy client has to attend at least one Meeting of Creditors. All of the bankruptcy schedules are now filed online through the CM/ECF system. A paralegal usually fills out the forms, but the bankruptcy lawyer must review the forms and sign off on them. He will then return them to the paralegal to upload through the system.

Conclusion

While the bankruptcy lawyer may assign many of his duties to a paralegal, he must still meet with the clients to give legal advice, review court pleadings and attend court hearings and Meeting of Creditor meetings. Often, a bankruptcy lawyer will work overtime because of the due dates imposed by the court.