FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
For family law cases most are billed hourly at $200 per hour for the attorney at $145 per hour for the paralegal. We do discount our rates for teachers, police officers, firemen, or for those who really need a lower rate on their fees. We do offer some flat fees for cases that are not contested or for limited scope representation (help people do some of their paperwork so they can represent themselves). Bankruptcies, estate planning, traffic tickets, and probate are normally a flat fee with a few exceptions.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
First, you have your consultation with the attorney. Most of these consultations are free of charge and last 30 minutes. When you retain our office (pay your attorney fees), we send you an Attorney/Client Contract to read and sign to help you know what you can expect from the attorney and what we expect of you. Once the contract is signed, we send you a pre-filing letter/email that explains what your next steps are in the process. After this, it will depend on what type of case you have. For bankruptcy clients, we send you a series of emails to walk you through the process of providing us the information we need to prepare your paperwork and the class you need to take prior to filing. For domestic clients we have you fill out all your paperwork we will need to file with the Court prior to signing the Petition required to move your case forward in the court. This helps us move settlement along faster or to be ready to file for temporary orders with the court for custody, child support, maintenance, exchange of certain property, etc. The more we can do up front the less you will end up paying in attorney fees. We will then send letters/emails to the client every step of the way to help them understand the next step in their case and to keep the case moving as quickly as possible. For other clients we will contact them immediately to make sure we have whatever information is needed to move forward with their case. I think we excel at customer service here in our office. It is important to understand that when you work with a law office we do have a lot of other clients who also need our attention. We feel our system will keep you informed and answer many of your questions so we can quickly served all of our clients.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
Attorneys are required to take at least 15 hours of continuing education each year including ethics. Mediation Training.