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John G.E. Thompson
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John G.E. Thompson
Thompson Legal Services, L.L.C.
P.O. Box 5060
St. Cloud, MN 56302
Phone: (320) 310-4040 | Fax: (320) 310-4221
http://www.mnchapter7.com
Affordable, Mobile Statewide Mediation Attorney
Legal Topic
Family Law
Preferred New Clients
Information coming soon.
Sub-Categories
Family Law
- Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
- Name Changes
- Restraining Orders
- Enforcement Actions
- Child Support
- Custody
- Foster Care
- Paternity
- Visitation
- Civil Unions
- Domestic Partnerships
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender Rights
- Living Together/Cohabitation
- Marriage
- Power of Attorney
- Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements
- Colleges & Universities
- Individualized Education Plans
- Private Schools
- Public Schools
- Student Rights
- Teacher Abuse
- Trade & Technical Schools
- Special Education
- Age Discrimination
- Guardianships & Conservatorships
- Long-Term Care
- Powers of Attorney
- Medicaid & Medicare Planning
- Advanced Health Care Directive
- Healthcare Power of Attorney
- Healthcare Proxy
- Grandparent Rights
Legal Topic
Employment & Labor Relations
Preferred New Clients
Information coming soon.
Sub-Categories
Employment & Labor Relations
- Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender (LGBT) Rights
- Affirmative Action
- Age Discrimination
- Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Disability Discrimination
- Discipline/Suspension
- Emotional Distress
- Employee Rights
- Employment Contracts
- Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA)
- Government Employees
- Jones Act
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
- Race Discrimination
- Racial Harassment
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
- Severance Packages
- Sex Discrimination
- Sexual Harassment
- Termination
- Wrongful Termination
- Affirmative Action
- Age Discrimination
- Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Disability Discrimination
- Discipline/Suspension
- Emotional Distress
- Employment Contracts
- Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA)
- Government Employees
- Jones Act
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
- Race Discrimination
- Racial Harassment
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
- Severance Packages
- Sex Discrimination
- Sexual Harassment
- Termination
- Wrongful Termination
- Labor Disputes
Legal Topic
Divorce
Preferred New Clients
Information coming soon.
Sub-Categories
Divorce
- Alimony/Palimony/Spousal Support
- Annulment
- Child Support
- Custody/Visitation Rights
- Delinquent Support Payments
- Division of Property
- Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR)
- Restraining Orders
- Uncontested Divorce
- Collaborative Law
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender (LGBT) Rights
Legal Topic
Bankruptcy
Preferred New Clients
Consumer Chapters 7 & 13 Bankruptcy cases - debtor representation.
Sub-Categories
Bankruptcy
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 7
- Collections & Repossessions
- Credit Disputes
- Debt Relief
- Garnishments
- Credit Repair
- Credit Restoration
- Creditor Harassment
- Family Farmer Bankruptcy Chapter 12
- Personal Bankruptcy
- Foreclosures
Bar Admissions
MN, May 2003
Bar Number: 0325338
Other Court Admissions
Admitted to Minnesota State and Federal District Courts.
Association Memberships
Minnesota State Bar.
Continuing Education
I fulfill my required continuing legal education hours by attending seminars and presentations relevant to the practice of consumer/debtor oriented bankruptcy law.
Example Cases
We regularly handle Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies.
Education
Degree:
Juris Doctor
School:
William Mitchell College of Law
City:
St. Paul
State:
MN
Year:
Information coming soon.
Number of Attorneys
1
State Licensed In
Minnesota
Firm Focus and History
Our firm focuses almost exclusively on representing consumer debtors in Chapters 7 and 13 Bankruptcy cases. I will occasionally provide clients with legal advice and representation in the areas of social security disability law, protective orders, employee-side unemployment compensation hearings, conciliation court proceedings, and limited family law mediation matters - functioning as a qualified Rule 114 neutral (mediator).
Previous Employment Summary
Prior to founding Thompson Legal Services, LLC, I was a founding partner of another firm which specialized in consumer bankruptcy, family law, estate planning, social security disability law, unemployment compensation hearings, and conciliation court representation. Before becoming a private practice attorney, I worked as a corporate research attorney, and for several years as a legal aid consumer/family/disability lawyer.
What is your opinion regarding clients educating themselves on legal issues?
Depending on the complexity of the issue(s), the client's stake in the matter, and my perception of the client's ability to understand her/his own interests and the nuances of the given legal issue, my opinion ordinarily tracks closely with how I feel the client is best served given the foregoing concerns. In some instances, a self-educated client can serve her/his own interests well and at dramatically reduced costs for him or herself; other scenarios create a need for a capable attorney to extricate a "self-educated" individual from a messy, self-created legal problem that should have been managed by a competent professional at the onset. When in doubt, I feel it is always best to ask an attorney for a bit of free advice, and supplement self-educated legal knowledge with perhaps a little better informed understanding of the matter.
Are you willing to review documents prepared by clients?
I have assisted clients in the past with self-prepared legal documents, and have been both impressed and frightened with what I have come across. I am willing to assist clients who have prepared their own documents, but feel obliged to comment if I think a client may be in over his/her head.
Are you willing to coach clients who want to represent themselves?
I am willing to assist pro se clients as a "coach," but will be very open and honest with a client whom I feel lacks the ability or understanding to self-represent.
Why did you decide to be a lawyer?
I am of the mindset that one should use his unique God-given talents and abilities to help those who need assistance or who are otherwise unable to help themselves. I recognize that the practice of law creates an opportunity to meet such an aspiration, and to do so in a manner that allows me to travel, meet with new and interesting people, help good folks where professional assistance is seriously needed, and conduct the vocational component of my life in an interesting, challenging, and rewarding professional setting.
What work experience and education helps you be a better lawyer?
As a husband of nearly twenty years, and the father of five young children, I have learned to listen well, to be patient when rushed and stressed, and to take time to get things right the first time. As the result of being a veteran husband and father, I have also learned to experience a deep compassion for people and their difficult circumstances, and enjoy a full, sustaining Christian faith having endured challenging times and circumstances within my own family and circle of friends.
Professionally, my intelligence experience in the U.S. Navy set me on the path of conducting thorough, careful analysis and reporting; my human services work reinforced my love of people and my desire to help and comfort those in need, my stock/mutual fund trading work prepared me to operate in a hectic, stressful, cluttered environment, to understand complex business transactions, and to think quickly and correctly on my feet, and my attorney work, particularly my legal aid service, has served as a firm, well constructed foundation to support the attorney my clients hire when they retain my office.
Why did you decide on your primary area of practice?
Money, numbers, formulas and laws are of intrinsic intellectual interest to me. Years of working as a legal aid attorney showed me what stifling debt can do to the spirit and long-term prospects of a family or an individual. I observed bankruptcy attorneys in my community providing invaluable services to folks struggling with seemingly insurmountable debt, saw the results of those services rendered, and decided that consumer oriented bankruptcy practice was the area of law I needed to pursue.
What do you like best about your career?
Helping my clients resolve some of the most profound, vexing problems of their lives, seeing the emotional healing happen and the sense of relief, calm, and self confidence return to the constitutions of my clients, and the opportunity to travel and work in unique, challenging, changing, and new environments with every case. I had a court clerk in a family case ask me recently about my other practice areas…I told her that I did relatively few family cases, and focused primarily on consumer bankruptcy matters…surprisingly, she exclaimed how boring consumer bankruptcy practice must be! Sadly for her, any person who comprehends anything about bankruptcy knows the clerk lacked any practical understanding of the rewarding, helping opportunities and challenges experienced by consumer bankruptcy attorneys while assisting their clients. I love my work!
Tell us about your law firm:
I am a solo practitioner so all of my clients deal directly with me. I have a work cell phone, a work phone, and a toll free number that rings in my office and at home. I am generally available from reasonably early in the morning until reasonably later in the evening. If I am tied up with another client, hearing/court appointment or commitment, please leave me a voice or email message and I will return your call the same day (depending of course on the time of day you left the message). I will accept client calls on the weekends but prefer to work on client matters during the week like other family oriented parents. I will provide a recorded message for my client's benefit if I am out of the office/unreachable for an extended period (vacation, extended trial, family function, etc.).
What are your strengths and style?
I am a serious legal practitioner, but prior to the obligatory creditor hearing, operate in a fairly laid back, informal style. Because of the specific nature of bankruptcy practice, I frequently travel to meet my clients in their hometowns, or in other statewide locations more convenient to them. Transactionally, most aspects of the bankruptcy process can be managed remotely (consulting, sending/reviewing files/documents, etc.), or at a kitchen table or restaurant booth.
As such, prospective clients should feel free to setup a free consultation. I conduct most initial consultations via telephone, and then travel to meet retained clients in their neck-of-the-woods. Let my convenient and affordable experience, skills, and know-how travel to meet you on my tank of gas. We can review your bankruptcy concerns in the quiet corner of your local diner over a soda and a basket of fries, or your living room…I really do make house calls.
Personal Interests:
I enjoy deer/grouse/pheasant/turkey hunting, training/exercising my German shorthair pointer, fishing/boating, anything to do with the outdoors, youth/high school/college/pro hockey, all levels of football/baseball, coaching my children's sports activities, reading (both fiction and non-fiction), traveling and spending time anywhere hot and near salt water with my wife, children, family and friends, writing, my work, and exploring, sharing, and engaging more deeply in my Christian faith.
Office Manager/Assistant
Gary Thompson - Paralegal.
Fax
(320) 310-4221
Office Hours
Whenever you need me…I am as nearby as your phone or email!
Emergency After Hours
Yes
Fixed-Price Services and Fees
I charge $1,475 for a basic Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which includes the $299 filing fee, and the costs of obtaining a specialized credit report, and performing a paid public records asset search. Additional fees may apply should litigation ensue, or should the debtor need, for example, to add a creditor based on his/her own initial omission.
Chapter 13 bankruptcies generally cost between $2,000 and $3,000 in my office, including the filing fee, and may vary in total client cost depending upon the complexity of the matter and additional expenses incurred. Costs for the consumer credit counseling and financial management course requirements are not a part of the above-described fee structure, as they are managed by separate contractual arrangement between the debtor and the agency provider.
Hourly Rates
Nearly all of my clients are Chapter 7 consumer bankruptcy clients. As such, and after providing my clients with a free consultation(s) (usually by telephone), I charge a $200 non-refundable retainer fee, with the non-refundable balance of funds owed needing to be paid-in-full prior to filing the client's case ($200 plus the $1,275 balance = $1,475). Any non-bankruptcy cases, or costs incurred in a bankruptcy case which extend beyond the normal scope of my representation, are billed at my usual rate of $200 per hour.
Free Initial Consultation?
I offer a free initial consultation(s), generally by telephone, which is unlimited in duration, and may be comprised of one or several conversations with a potential client, over an indefinite period of time, if necessary. Generally, most clients decide sooner rather than later how to proceed with their debt problems, and most know when they first contact me how they want me to help them.
Typical Retainer
I only accept a retainer fee once the client has committed to moving forward with a bankruptcy case. The initial non-refundable $200 retainer fee I charge is used to cover the costs for me or a paralegal performing preliminary data entry of the client's information into our bankruptcy preparation/filing software. Thus, if a client decides to delay or abandon her/his intent to file a bankruptcy case through our office, once paid, the $200 retainer fee is not refunded to the client.
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