Engagement/Fee FAQs

I respect my paying clients. Therefore, I offer a short initial, pre-engagement phone consultation for potential clients who are in the process of seeking to engage and pay an attorney for legal services. The purpose and scope of the consultation is to exchange the information needed to evaluate whether or not I can be of assistance to a potential client and what the terms for retention/engagement will be.

For these calls to be most beneficial and effective, they should be scheduled. Sending an email or leaving me a message with your contact information and letting me know that you’d like to discuss a potential retention is a great way to start! Usually, we can set something up so that the consultation can occur within 24 hours of your first contact to me.

Not at this time. If the firm is ever in a position where it will consider being engaged on a contingency basis, this space will reflect that.

Litigation, uncontested probate proceedings, and estate and trust administration engagements: The firm undertakes these engagements on an hourly fee basis. Hourly rates range based on type and complexity of matter, amount in dispute, urgency of action required, and other factors. Likewise, required initial retainer amounts vary. The firm does not require initial retainer deposits for all engagements of these types, but does require them in all litigation retentions and retentions where, in my professional opinion, litigation is likely.

Estate Planning: The firm typically provides estate plan creation services on a “flat fee” basis. I will determine what plan structure and composition will best serve clients’ stated needs and goals, and will provide a statement of a narrowly tailored “range” of total cost for the plan creation. Review and amendment, revision, or supplementation of an existing plan is usually provided on an hourly basis. However, if the total project is large enough that a flat fee makes sense, that may be offered as a reasonable option.

“Funding” Estate Plans: Whether the firm created a client’s existing plan, or will be reviewing an existing plan created for a client by a different attorney and assisting the client in funding that plan, the firm provides funding services for an hourly fee.

I appreciate, and am grateful for, referrals and recommendations. If you have legal authority to retain me on behalf of the friend or relative for whom you are calling, it makes sense for you to speak to me about potential retention.

However, I have learned from experience that if you are not someone with legal authority and a plan to retain counsel on behalf of a friend or relative, your friend or relative must decide to contact me, and then do so personally, for the conversation to be meaningful or productive.