You have to file an application for additional fees, outlining the extra time that you spent and what you accomplished for the debtor and/or the estate. How you actually get paid depends mostly on local practice. In my district we could either be paid via the trustee or directly from the debtor, but as a practical matter if we don’t get it from the trustee we will probably never get it from the debtor. In Massachusetts, the “no look” fee for a chapter 13 case is $3500 prior to confirmation and $500 post-confirmation. I believe that the “no look” fee is intended to include such routine things as defending objections to confirmation, basic claims objections, and lien stripping (because in Massachusetts, we can do it in the plan and no separate contested matter or AP is required). AP’s are a different matter, as would be anything that required an evidentiary hearing. If the debtor can’t pay the $3500 up front, I get the maximum retainer the client can afford and put the balance in the plan. At $250 per hour, $3500 is equal to 14 hours, which IMHO ought to be enough for a simple chapter 13 case.

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