Spend ten minutes discussing the lawyer's methods before you launch into telling your problem. Knowing how you will work together will help you organize your thoughts.
Bring legible lists of relevant names and dates to your first appointment for the lawyer to keep. Clear your assumptions. If you already think you need a trust, a lawsuit, a contract, etc. check out your reasons for making that decision--don't chance wasting lawyer time working on the wrong thing. Talk about outcomes you want to achieve (rather than what you want to do next) and let the lawyer brainstorm with you about how to get there. Speak up. Point out when things are not going as you expected; there may be a misunderstanding. Ask for a written legal opinion when you need to be able to review complex ideas and unfamiliar legal terms.
questions and do not hold back information in an effort to keep it simple.
A Fair Method of Charging
We charge for the professional time and paraprofessional time spent on your legal matter. Charging by the hour is a straightforward way of measuring and collecting compensation for our work.
We have developed our own templates and efficiencies over 20 years of practice. This allows us to devote the time you pay for to customized service appropriate to your distinct circumstances.
We do make reasonable installment payment agreements and We accept credit card payments.
A successful business relationship with a professional who charges by the hour rests on mutual trust and cooperation. A client who takes the time to prepare for a phone call or office visit will set a tone of efficiency. We are pro-active professionals, offering guidance for how to keep your bills reasonable.
The promise we make is one of integrity: every hour that is billed by this office comes with an assurance that the time was effectively spent on client work. We do not have clocks connected to our computers that chalk up charges.
We practice "preventive law." This means that we judge the value of what we do in light of the risks ahead. We have "been there" for expensive, hurtful conflicts among family members, among co-owners of a business, between employers and their employees. Once these kinds of disputes have already erupted, "preventive law" does not quit, we continue to look out for ways to quell conflict rather than exacerbate it.
In our society, conflicts often end up with many parties paying attorney fees. Preventive law recognizes that conflict avoidance is cost avoidance. And when people's interests are co-dependent, as they are in families and businesses, then conflict resolution averts further costs, and may preserve the value of the family estate or the operating ability of a company.
