CONSULTATION AND FEES

Consultation

In order for us to learn about your case while maximizing your and our time most efficiently, our initial consultation with you occurs as follows. After you contact us and express an interest in scheduling an initial consultation with us, we will perform a brief initial client intake with you via telephone. The purpose of this intake is to allow us to obtain statistical information about you and your spouse as well as general information about your case. This information allows us to perform a conflict check to make sure we do not have any ethical conflict in representing you, should you decide to hire us to represent you. Additionally, the general information about your case allows the attorney to prepare for the consultation.

The consultation fee is a flat fee in the amount of $275.00, paid in advance of the consultation, which can occur in our offices or via telephone. Typically, an initial consultation between you and the attorney should take approximately one hour; however, if the consultation takes longer than one hour, there is no additional charge for the initial consultation. It is important that you not worry about the clock ticking in the initial consultation; we prefer to hear about your case and make sure that we give you clear legal advice that you understand. In the event that you elect not to hire our firm to represent you after the initial consultation, please be aware that the consultation is confidential and subject to the attorney-client privilege.

If, after the initial consultation, you decide to retain our firm to represent you, please understand that we reserve the right not to represent you. There are a wide variety of reasons that we may choose not to represent you, so please do not take it personally in the event that we do not take your case. In the event that we do not take your case, we will always provide you with the names of several other attorneys that we trust as referrals for your case.

Fees

Fees vary on a case to case basis. Attorneys bill at hourly rates beginning at $275.00 per hour. Paralegals and legal assistants bill at hourly rates of $125.00 per hour. Each hour is billed in minimum increments of fifteen minutes. The initial client consultation is a flat fee of $275.00 for the consultation. The retainer for most divorces is $5,000.00. The retainer for most divorce or post-divorce matters with a custody dispute or where we are substituting in for other counsel or where there is already substantial litigation is $4,000.00. The retainer for most child support modification is $2,500.00. These retainer amounts may be increased or decreased depending on the legal difficulty of the case.

Retainers must be paid prior to our beginning any work on your case. For your convenience, our offices accept payment by credit card.

Sometimes it may be necessary to hire outside professionals, such as a forensic accountant or a child custody evaluator, to assist us in our representation of you. These fees will be quoted to you in advance and typically will be billed separately by the outside professional and paid directly by you.