Timing is Everything
Life lesson. You want to get the timing just right. Not to early and not too late.
Taking legal actions (such as filing for bankruptcy, an Offer in Compromise, etc.) has a lot of complexities to it. One of the extremely important considerations will likely be the decision on when to initiate the legal action.
Should you file those papers as fast as you can? Maybe. But not usually. There are multiple reasons why not, but first and foremost is…
You don’t want to make mistakes.
What you are doing is intricate work. By definition, legal work requires an exacting standard. It involves the collection of tons of information and then translating it into the proper arguments, formats and disclosures that are required. You want to take the time to do this right. Rushing will usually lead to a poor result, more work, and most likely some additional expense.
As with all things in life – do your best work now so you can avoid the blow-back that cutting corners can cause. Doing your best work usually takes time.
As the saying goes… “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” I didn’t invent that saying, but my experience has been that this saying holds true most of the time in life. If you take it slow, you will make less mistakes. Making less mistakes leads to things going “smooth.” When things go smooth, there is less re-work, less starting over, etc. Therefore, you get to the end result you wanted quicker than you would have had, had you pushed the speed envelope at the beginning. I guess this is similar to the old fable about the tortoise and the hare. Whichever saying you draw the lesson from, I think it is a good one to learn.
In legal practice, following this principal can pay dividends in so many ways.
Be sure to read my next post where I’ll discuss an emergency bankruptcy filing (i.e. a “rush job”).
