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1. Do you carry professional liability insurance? 2. Will you give me an itemized billing of all costs? 3. Will you charge me for copies and postage? 4. Will you bill at a reduced rate for work your secretary or legal assistant does? 5. Will you refund any unused retainer? If so, how quickly? 6. Will you review with me all witnesses that I believe will be valuable to the case? 7. Will you keep a flow chart of the process, so I can see where we are and what I should expect next? 8. Will you accompany me to any mediation conferences? 9. Can we have a settlement conference if we feel that it will help resolve the case? 10. Will you keep me informed of the costs involved in the process? 11. Will you review with me my court testimony prior to the time I am required to testify? 12. Will you consult with me before making settlement offers? 13. Will you represent me if I decide to appeal the trial Court’s ruling? 1. Do you carry professional liability insurance? Attorneys are not required to carry a professional liability insurance which covers incidents of errors of omissions. It is important for your protection that you know that this is part of their professional practice. Unfortunately, some attorneys feel that they are competent and qualified enough to provide legal services without this protection. That would be like you saying you never need car insurance because you are a safe driver. Remember, the insurance protects your retainer from being misused, protects you from missed filing requirements, and other negligent acts of the attorney. Any attorney who is concerned about his clients receiving professional services and being protected from oversights will have full coverage. LawCare – Family Law Center carries full liability coverage on all staff attorneys. 2. Will you give me an itemized billing of all costs? Some attorneys do not provide an itemization of all events that occur during your case. They may or may not let you know when your retainer has expired. They may or may not let you know what expenses and fees to look forward to throughout the duration of the case. LawCare – Family Law Center provides detailed monthly billing with a description of each service. The billing description will be brief because this is information that may appear on a fee affidavit sometime during the course of the litigation. However, in most cases, case notes are available on each phone conference for your review. LawCare – Family Law Center wants you to understand the fees facing you in the future. We will discuss the costs of proceeding and reduce the “sticker shock” of legal services. We feel it is important for you to know and be realistic about the fees that lie ahead. 3. Will you charge me for copies and postage? A legal proceeding is paper intensive and information intensive. All information that comes through an attorney’s office must be provided to you. On occasion, large bulks of information, such as copies of bank statements, phone records, and medical records, are part of the preparation of the legal proceeding. LawCare – Family Law Center attempts to reduce the costs of making paper copies of all documents. Scanning documents to file and to CD can save fees for the time involved, the copying costs, and the postage costs. When possible, we will scan the documents that need to be forwarded to other counsel. LawCare – Family Law Center attempts to reduce postage costs by communicating with you through email. We can scan letters, documents, and pleadings to reduce the cost and time involved in keeping you informed. We also encourage our client to scan and email important information to us rather than faxing when possible. This information can be stored electronically to your file for future reference. 4. Will you bill at a reduced rate for work your secretary or legal assistant does? The legal process includes a variety of tasks that require a variety of levels of skill. In some cases, an attorney may charge you full rates for a secretary transcribing or finishing a letter. In some instances, you may be billed full rate for associate attorney’s court appearance on simple matters. LawCare – Family Law Center has tiered rates for the level of service. In going through your contract, we will explain the rates of the attorneys, legal assistants, and other support staff. An attorney will often dictate or draft the legal language of the document and allow the support staff to prepare the document for filing. This ultimately saves you money and expedites the process of preparing documents. 5. Will you refund any unused retainer? If so, how quickly? All attorneys require that retainers be paid before representing a client. These retainers vary depending on the level of complexity and level of hostility in a case. Some attorneys require “non-refundable” retainers which mean that if you leave their services prior to the use of all funds, you monies will be lost. LawCare – Family Law Center takes a refundable retainer on your case. This means that if we anticipate that a case will be complex and we take a larger retainer, the funds will be refunded if the fees are not used. It does, however, take a billing cycle to process a refund and all credit card payments will be credited back to the account upon the completion of the billing cycle. 6. Will you review with me all witnesses that I believe will be valuable to the case? Your witnesses will be a vital part of the litigation process. However, some attorneys do not go through with you all the persons that may add valuable testimony to your case. LawCare – Family Law Center wants you to assist in preparing for your case by outlining a list of persons that may assist the court in reaching a decision. This may mean family members, teachers, work associates, etc. You will need to collect the information on how to contact each individual and give a summary of the value you think they will add to the case. 7. Will you keep a flow chart of the process, so I can see where we are and what I should expect next? The legal process can be very confusing to you. Some attorneys expect you to follow their lead, do what you are told, and show up at court when you are beckoned. This increases the anxiety and anticipation level of the process. LawCare – Family Law Center goes over the timeline of the process from the beginning. You will receive emails regarding the status notes of the case and copies of all documents. The legal assistant working on the case will also be useful to you in understanding the steps that are taken along the way. 8. Will you accompany me to any mediation conferences? Mediation is an important part of the process in all family matters. However, it is also a process that sometimes requires the presence of counsel and sometimes does not. LawCare – Family Law Center will help you assess whether or not an attorney should be present with you at the mediation. On occasion, when the issue has been well-defined and all the relevant information has been provided, the mediation process may not require attorneys. This is an important consideration when it comes to costs. 9. Can we have a settlement conference if we feel that it will help resolve the case? Some attorneys always move towards litigation and some tend to move always towards settlement. Your attorney acts as your advisor and advocate. Understanding when to attempt a settlement and when to move towards litigation is a delicate balance. LawCare – Family Law Center wants you to be part of the process of considering when to seek a settlement conference and when to prepare for a trial before the Court. A settlement conference differs from a mediation in that you may meet solely with the parties and the attorneys or you may include a third party. The goal is to isolate the issues and find a resolution without going to court. 10. Will you keep me informed of the costs involved in the process? Legal costs skyrocket very quickly in contested litigation. Every phone call, letter, court appearance, document review requires time from your attorney. Attorneys bill for time. This is why your monthly itemized billing is important. Some attorneys do not send an itemization of the fees incurred during the month. The end result will be a huge bill that has no meaning to you. LawCare – Family Law Center will send you a monthly itemization of the time and expense incurred during the month. If you use email regularly and you trust that no one has invaded your email, we can often provide periodic status notes regarding phone calls, witness investigations, and other matters. Keeping up on the process can be a very valuable tool to help you measure the success of the process. 11. Will you review with me my court testimony prior to the time I am required to testify? The courtroom can be an intimidating environment. Some attorneys expect you to go into the court room relaxed and confident without any preparation. LawCare – Family Law Center wants you to have knowledge of some of the expectations of the judge. It often will not be what you expect. The judge wants the facts of the case that will lead him best to make an informed and impartial decision. A review with you of how the opposing counsel may try to trick you into making statements that are harmful to your case will have immeasurable value. 12. Will you consult with me before making settlement offers? This is your case, not your attorney’s. On occasion, an attorney will supplement their opinion of the case for their client’s opinion of the case. Although your attorney is there to advise and advocate for you, it is important that she does not take the case on as her own. LawCare – Family Law Center will act as your advisor and advocate. Your objectives are important, but you also must be willing to listen to the advice of sage counsel. After years of experience in the field of family law, we are equipped to direct you to a resolution of the case whether that be through mediation, settlement conference or trial. 13. Will you represent me if I decide to appeal the trial Court’s ruling? If you must go to Court and have the judge decide on your case, you may find that you are not satisfied with the results. Simply being unsatisfied is not a good reason to appeal a case to the next higher court, but if the court has made an error you have the right to have your case reviewed by the Court of Appeals. This is not a rehearing, but a review of the transcript and pleadings before the court. It requires your attorney to write a detailed accounting of the process and citing each occurrence in the record that is relevant, all within a structured time period. Some attorneys are not prepared to take your case to the Court of Appeals. Turning the case over to a new attorney to write the appeal will take extra time and cost extra money. LawCare – Family Law Center provides services throughout the appellate process. Reviewing our own cases and proceedings makes us “ready to go” if the appeal is necessary. We will take cases to the Court of Appeals that we have not taken to trial, but it will cost additional fees for the transcript and record review.
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13 Questions You Need to Ask Your Lawyer
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