Pitfalls of Filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy without an Attorney

Filing bankruptcy is no easy task. The bankruptcy code of the United States is designed to protect individuals and businesses from debts that become too much of a burden to reasonably cope with. Unfortunately, while bankruptcy is designed to help, it also has to protect the interests of creditors and there has to be a set of rules in place to ensure that there is a uniform system for bankruptcy. The system in place can be very confusing and there are many pitfalls associated with filing any bankruptcy... but perhaps the most confusing and difficult bankruptcy of all is chapter 11. As such, it is essential to hire an experienced chapter 11 bankruptcy attorney to help you to file this particularly complex type of bankruptcy.

Risks of Filing Chapter 11 Without an Attorney

There are plenty of pitfalls to be aware of when it comes to filing chapter 11 without a lawyer:

• Chapter 11 may not be right for you. Chapter 11 is business bankruptcy, usually appropriate for larger business or businesses that are separate entities, such as those that are corporations. If you have a sole proprietorship, or even a partnership, the first and most major pitfall of chapter 11 is that it may not even be the proper option
• Your reorganization plan may not be approved. Chapter 11 is designed to allow a business to keep functioning and to help the business to become profitable. Debts are renegotiated in some cases, and a business is always reorganized to show how it can become profitable. A trustee may be put in charge of managing the business and its money. All of this is very, very complex and creating a plan that the bankruptcy courts will approve is not something the average layperson can easily do. If you don't do it right, this can delay your bankruptcy or even result in the filing being thrown out

Getting Help

The entire process of chapter 11 can be expensive, and it is easy to see why you might think about skipping out on an attorney to avoid paying legal fees. However, this can end up backfiring in a major way if the filing is not approved, if the paperwork is not done properly, if debts are not properly negotiated or if something else goes wrong. An experienced bankruptcy lawyer can help you throughout each step of the chapter 11 process to ensure that you can get your business back on track as soon as possible.