What is the Difference Between a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant
and a Bankruptcy Petition Preparer?
--by Victoria Ring
I have often illustrated the difference between a virtual bankruptcy assistant (one who works for licensed attorneys) and a bankruptcy petition preparer (one who works for the general public) as the difference between purchasing drugs from the drug dealer in the alley and a pharmacy. People will chuckle when I say this. But in reality, this comparison is often true.
Over 85% of bankruptcy petition preparers who run ads in the newspaper and prepare documents for the consumer are subject to heavy fines when they are caught. Why? Because filing bankruptcy is a serious matter. If the paperwork is not properly completed the effects can be detrimental for innocent men, women and children. Many families have lost their home and become desolate simply because they tried to save money using a bankruptcy petition preparer. Unlike other areas of law that would not cause detrimental harm to consumers, the bankruptcy court must establish laws to protect them.
Therefore, if you plan to work as a bankruptcy petition preparer and not as a virtual bankruptcy assistant under the direction of licensed bankruptcy attorneys, the following could occur:** Fines of $40,000 or more may be imposed upon you by the bankruptcy court when you are caught. Melissa Afshar of Portland, Oregon is one such person who was fined this fee. She then attempted to file bankruptcy to dismiss the debt and found out it was non-dischargable and considered a priority debt. She will be paying of this fine for many, many years.
** You will never earn the same amount of money working for the general public as you will working for an attorney. Most states place caps on non-attorneys who prepare legal documents for consumers. Think about it: would you rather be paid $125 per petition working for the public or $500 per petition working for an attorney?
** Violations occur when non-attorneys prepare Schedule C and the Means Test unless they do so under a licensed attorney’s direction. Since a bankruptcy petition cannot be filed without these two documents, non-attorneys are committing unauthorized practice of law regardless of the agreement they made with the debtor.
How the Virtual Bankruptcy Field BeganBack in 2001 when Victoria Ring and the attorney she was working for developed the virtual bankruptcy assistant field they were not aware of what they had actually done. In fact, the whole idea began as an experiment.
Victoria was working as a paralegal for two attorneys in a typical bankruptcy law firm practice. One day, an attorney was watching Victoria work and realized that she was interrupted every 10-15 minutes while trying to compile a bankruptcy petition. Understanding that the bankruptcy petition is the most important document for securing a smooth process throughout the case, the attorney had an idea. He said to his partner: “Let’s see how the efficiency improves if we take the bankruptcy petition preparation outside the law firm and allow Victoria to work part-time from her home.”
That weekend the attorneys moved a desk, computer and chair into the spare bedroom of Victoria’s home. That weekend, she was able to prepare 15 bankruptcy petitions without any interruptions like phone calls, customers dropping by and office employees asking her for help.
Benefits for the Bankruptcy Law FirmThe two bankruptcy attorneys not only found that Victoria could process 15 bankruptcy petitions in a weekend, but the quality in the detail improved significantly. This resulted in:
** Eliminating almost all the deficiency notices from the court;
** Less phone calls from clients asking when their petition would be completed; ** Reduction of the overall paperwork for the law firm; and
** Created more income since cases were filed more expediently.
When Victoria Ring saw how this idea was benefiting the law firm she was working for she decided to introduce the concept to other attorneys so they could benefit also. Unfortunately, due to the lack of technological knowledge, most of the bankruptcy attorneys in Columbus, Ohio (where Victoria lived at the time) never believed that electronic filing and working virtually were possible. That is when Victoria developed an internet company and presented her ideas to attorneys in larger cities like New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc. Within 9 months of developing the website she had a client base of 56 attorneys and was able to quit her full-time job. Victoria has never looked back.
Facts** Virtual bankruptcy assistants are trained professionals who work solely under the direction of bankruptcy attorneys.
** Bankruptcy petition preparers work for the general public. The majority has received no prior training and often commits unauthorized practice of law (UPL).
** Save your law firm $1,000s of dollars per year. Judge for yourself by contacting virtual bankruptcy assistants directly. Visit the National Association of Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants today at: http://www.navba.org
Other Advantages to Law Firms Who Utilize Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants** Attorneys do not pay the standard overhead costs associated with hiring a full-time or part-time employee. Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants charge one flat fee just like the bankruptcy attorney does.
** Attorneys do not pay for services until they are satisfied with the quality of work produced by the Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant. There are no financial risks for the law firm and the attorney can find the quality he or she is seeking.
** Attorneys do not invest in additional computer equipment or software. Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants maintain their own and are highly skilled in using their equipment and software or they would not stay in business.
** Paralegals and other law firm personnel are freed up to work on more complex cases. It is a known fact that the typical employee preparing petitions in a law firm is interrupted several times. This makes the information on the bankruptcy petition to not be consistent and precise, resulting in errors.
** Attorneys eliminate the need to train new employees. Most Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants stay with the same attorney for many years. Not only does this increase efficiency with bankruptcy petitions, but Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants get to know the clients, the local bankruptcy court and the attorney which helps them build a reliable reputation.
** Attorneys utilizing the services of Virtual Bankruptcy Assistants who have been certified through the VBA Certification Exam can be assured of high quality and professionalism.What types of jobs do virtual bankruptcy assistants perform for bankruptcy attorneys?
1. Preparation of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy petitions.
In the same way a tax preparer takes your information and completes your 1040 form, it requires training to learn where to place debt information in the proper areas of the federal bankruptcy forms and schedules. But once you acquire this skill, you can use it to build a profitable and long-term business career. Or, you can use the skill as a “stepping stone” to move on to other areas of bankruptcy, such as Chapter 13s and drafting of pleadings.
Put us to the test: Before you spend one penny investing in the virtual bankruptcy assistant field, view the website links below. These are just a few of the companies who provide virtual bankruptcy assistant services and belong to people just like you who completed our training and now have successful virtual bankruptcy assistant businesses. Feel free to look around their website, contact them through email, introduce yourself, and request feedback on the quality of training services provided by Victoria Ring and 713Training.Com, LLC.
http://www.attorneyvba.com/
http://www.mybankruptcyassistant.com
http://outsourceyourbankruptcyfilings.com/
http://rantz.biz/
http://bankruptcyfirstaide.com/
http://www.lynchlegalsupport.com/
http://prioritybankruptcy.com/
http://henrysvasvcs.com/default.aspx
http://highqconnect.com/
http://professionalva.com/
When you are drafting a bankruptcy petition, you will need to perform online searches in order to verify information provided by clients on the Client Intake Forms. Once you learn this skill and become proficient at it, you can also provide online research services for a wide variety of attorneys practicing in other areas of law.
Below are few links we found on the internet of companies performing research services for attorneys. Review their websites to see the types of services they offer and how their business is structured. This helps to give you information to determine if a legal research business is something that interests you.
http://www.nationwideappeals.com/
http://www.briefwise.com/
http://www.nlrg.com/
http://rapidlegal.com/
A foreclosure mediator negotiates a resolution between the mortgage company and the borrower to enable them to keep their home. Foreclosures are a common occurrence in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases. In fact, in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy a borrower can easily lose their home if they are unable to make payments as well as paying back all the arrearages before the 341 Meeting. A foreclosure mediator will work under the direction of the bankruptcy attorney in order to negotiate a settlement between the parties for a client who is filing bankruptcy.
Recommended Training Material: “The Complete Foreclosure Mediation Training Kit” http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=934. Drafting of pleadings.
Transcribing and dictation services are needed by all attorneys. Before the internet existed, attorneys used tape recorders to dictate legal documents to their legal secretary. The legal secretary placed the tape into a transcribing machine and typed legal documents for the attorney to edit and revise. Today, attorneys digitally record their dictation and email their file to a virtual assistant who types out the legal documents and emails the draft back to the attorney in MS Word or PDF format.
Below are some links we found on the internet of companies who provide virtual transcribing services to attorneys. Check them out to get ideas and to determine if this is a type of business that would interest you.
http://www.traceylawton.com/ http://www.the24hoursecretary.com/ http://www.wordprocessingplus.com/ http://www.datalystcorp.com/ http://www.123transcriptions.com/
Now that I have peaked your interest, let’s move on to some of the common questions that are asked by people just learning about the virtual bankruptcy assistant field. After reading the following section of questions and answers, if you should have a question not covered, contact the 713Training.Com office at:
Office Phone: 719-472-4109 (Mountain Time Zone)Online Contact Form: http://www.713training.com/contact.html