Confidentiality:
The
information you provide to us in connection with our services for you will be
kept strictly confidential. The only exception would be if you tell us you are
going to commit a crime, which of course is something you would not do.
Fees:
When
you need services of any kind, you want to know how much it will cost. Some
attorneys always charge by the hour. That is almost like signing a blank check
payable to the attorney. Our objective is, whenever possible, to charge a flat
fee, meaning a specific dollar amount, for the service we provide. For certain
types of legal services, such as wills, contracts, demand letters,
incorporation, and deeds, we can usually predict approximately how much time it
will take us to complete the work, so we can tell you the specific dollar
amount of the fee for that work. However, if you need additional questions answered and/or additional
issues addressed after the flat fee retainer agreement is signed, an
hourly rate must be charged for the additional services. We can also charge a flat fee for certain
types of court proceedings, as long as they remain uncontested, such as an
uncontested divorce, adoption, or probate proceeding. When any proceeding
becomes CONTESTED (meaning the opposing party files a responsive pleading),
however, representing you will take more of our time than was initially
anticipated, so we must charge you for additional work on your behalf if that
happens. If your case is or becomes contested, we will explain to you the
additional work that is necessary, ask you how much additional work you want us
to do and let you know the amount of the fee we will charge for the additional
work. Like you, we have bills to pay, including our office rental and other
office expenses, and we also have home mortgage, utility bills, food,
insurance, student loan payments*, etc. If we must devote more of our time to
your case, the work for your case displaces other work for which we would be
paid, so we must charge you for the additional work on your case.
We strive to keep our expenses
as low as possible and share the savings with our clients in the form of
significantly lower fees. We use electronic document storage and communication
(email and the internet) as much as possible to reduce expenses and help
protect the environment.
The Outcome of Litigation:
If you are a party to a lawsuit, no one can
tell you for sure how the lawsuit will turn out, whether you will win or lose,
or how much any party may recover. This is because the outcome of a lawsuit is
influenced by many factors, such as availability of certain witnesses, exactly
what the testimony of the witnesses will be, the nature of the evidence
produced by the opposing party, what action is taken by the attorney who
represents the opposing party, etc. As the lawsuit proceeds, we will be able to
tell you whether certain evidence is likely to help or hurt your case. In many
ways, hiring an attorney is like going to a doctor if you are ill or injured. The
doctor cannot tell you for certain whether the treatment he/she recommends will
result in a complete cure. All the doctor can do is to do his/her best to cure
you. Our pledge to you, if you retain us, is to do OUR VERY BEST to win your
case or achieve the objective you retained us to accomplish for you. If you
retain us, we will be your ZEALOUS ADVOCATE to the full extent of the law.
*To
become licensed attorneys, we must earn a four-year college degree and then
also complete three years of full-time study in an accredited law school and
pass the Bar Exam. Many attorneys must pay back a significant amount of student
loans for the tuition necessary to gain the skills and
knowledge to advise and represent you effectively.
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