Michael Fallon | Santa Rosa Bankruptcy & Debt Lawyer

Lawyer.com Member Questionnaire

Please describe a case in the last year or two where you made a big difference.
I was able to successfully reorganize a small business owner who was under an unrelenting attack by former employees who claimed they were owed more than $600,000, whose only objective was to destroy the business. The claim was reduced to $21,000 and the plan of reorganization, that provided for a 60 month payout of the claim, approved by the court.

How did you build a successful practice?
It has always been my practice to counsel a client to file bankruptcy only when such a filing was in their best interest. I am certain the number of people I have counseled to not file bankruptcy far out numbers the people who I have put into bankruptcy by a factor of two.

What should clients look for in a lawyer?
An attorney that does what the attorney says they will do; an attorney who is responsive to a client’s telephone calls/emails; an attorney that is honest.

How important is local knowledge to the success of your cases?
When you have worked in the same community for 40 years, you know how trustees and judges think, so you know how to best counsel a client to, for example, conduct pre-filing planning, a critical phase of any bankruptcy filing.

What information can you provide in a free phone consultation?
The consultation will include a discussion of what assets they own, home, automobile, stocks & bonds, and the like, and the nature of their debts. Their income and expenses. The options available to them under both a liquidating bankruptcy and a bankruptcy reorganization. Potential pitfalls such as their aggressive use of credit cards within the past several months; their repayment of loans to family members; their sale of property within the past four years. The information they need to decide whether a bankruptcy is right for them.

What information do you need in a free phone consultation?
The client should be prepared to discuss what assets they own, the nature of their debt, income and expenses, credit card use over the past several months, the repayment of loans to family members, the sale of property within the last four years.

What differentiates you from other lawyers in your community?
Compassion and understanding. The willingness to spend whatever time it takes, without cost to the client, to make certain a bankruptcy filing is the right course of action.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Helping people shed the pressure and uncertainty of their financial burdens.

What are your other interests in addition to law?
My wife of 43 years, my children and grandchildren..

Are you involved in your community?
Been involved with the Redwood Empire Food Bank for many years, as a regular contributor and former board member and volunteer.

• Member | California State Bar Association
  National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA)
  American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI)
  Sonoma County Bar Association

• Distinguished | Martindale-Hubbell | 2020

Michael C. Fallon has been a Premium Member since July 14, 2020.
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• Avvo | Michael Fallon

Bankruptcy & The Great Recession  (2020-08-04 15:48:31)
During the Great Recession that started in 2007 there were more than 3 Million homes lost to foreclosure.