Some people may not be on the edge of a financial cliff just yet and may be trying to explore alternatives to bankruptcy as a last resort. San Jose bankruptcy lawyers see all types of clients who need help processing their personal bankruptcy claims. For whatever reason, they may have decided not to try to navigate the complex and complicated world of bankruptcy on their own and they must narrow down the pool of qualified San Jose bankruptcy lawyers in order to try to find the best one for you. You should contact a number of them. This is usually done either through referrals, by personal recommendations or through spontaneous review of the yellow pages or an internet search of San Jose bankruptcy lawyers. Because you are trusting highly confidential information with your bankruptcy lawyer, you should feel comfortable asking him or her some questions to ease any anxiety that you may have or simply to know more about the kind of person that you will be working closely with over the next few months. Some of the things that you may find beneficial to know includes things like where did this individual receiver their formal education or schooling with regard to matters of the law? How many years of experience have they accumulated? What are some of the challenges or obstacles that they have faced in their practice? How have they managed to effectively combat those challenges? How do they think past clients would rate their services and why? If it is a relatively new bankruptcy lawyer you may want to ask if he or she completed an internship in bankruptcy law. Some of this information may be on their website so that may be a great starting point for you in your search for a competent bankruptcy lawyer.