What to expect during the initial consultation

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What to expect during an initial consultation. When people call our office to schedule an initial consultation. We have several objectives that we want to achieve. During the initial consultation, we want our client to explain all the relevant facts and circumstances for what brings them into our office.

From that, we will explore the relevant laws, the possible remedies and develop a course of action for the client and the attorney to work together to try to resolve those issues as best as possible. Given the facts and the laws relevant for your case

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prior to the end of the consultation, we'll make sure that we have an agreement upon our next steps. The next steps could be projects for the client, projects for the attorney, discussion about whether we are ready to contact the opposing attorney, and whether or not we need to have a subsequent meeting to go over strategy considerations based on our first consultation,

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the first consultation will also address timelines. While difficult to predict how long it will take for a case to resolve. We do have general guidelines that we give clients for negotiation periods, potentially attending a mediation and, if necessary, attending court hearings.

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The initial consultation is not something where we typically are taking immediate action. When people ask what will be the first thing we do? My most common response is gather information and make an additional evaluation for what we should be doing and what the client will be doing, when they will be doing it, and when we will be taking certain action steps, and when we will reconvene to have a strategy, discussion or approval for the next step.

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So what's a good fit for an attorney and a client? The first thing is that you feel comfortable that the attorney has explained the laws and the course of action to you Clearly, my advice to clients is if at any point you don't know what we're doing or why we're doing it, there's a problem, and I will tell clients to pick up the phone and call me to schedule a time for us to talk, to make sure that we clarify and agree upon what it is we're doing and why we're doing it.

It's a difficult process at times, and it can be confusing at times. At the end of the conversation, I tell the clients I want them to understand what we're doing and why we're doing it. It may not be something that they like or something that I like, but if we both agree that this is the course of action that needs to be pursued and we understand why, that's a wonderfully productive conversation to have, and I encourage it for my clients.

If you want to learn more, please feel free to visit our website or call my office to schedule an appointment. We look forward to speaking with you and addressing your concerns, and coming up for a plan for how to make things better and get things resolved.