You should contact a lawyer any time you have a legal question.  If it turns out your question can be answered easily and there is nothing the Firm has to do other than answer, you will likely get your answer quickly in the first contact and at no charge.

We can’t tell what it will cost unless it’s a flat fee type of work. Wills, trusts, and Powers of Attorney are flat fees. Incorporations are flat fees. Real estate deeds are frequently flat fee work.  All other work is probably going to be hourly billed, and you will get a detailed bill no less often than monthly, explaining each item of work and what it cost, along with a list of the hourly rates of the personnel who would do your work.

You will always get the attorney when there is a court date.  When there are papers to be done, you will get the person best able to affordably and competently prepare the paperwork.  You will always get the attorney to answer your legal question, but sometimes you will get your answer sooner if you will ask a staffer.

For flat fee work, we can usually estimate when our work will be done at each step. However, when the work requires that you review something, we cannot predict how long you will take to review, so we can’t know the total time until your review is done.  For hourly billed work, it will take as long as it takes to resolve your matter.  When others are involved in your matter, we simply don’t know because we only know about us and not about the others involved.

Will I get the attorney or just an associate?