I offer an initial consultation (usually one hour in duration), payable at my hourly rate, in order to provide you with as much information as possible in regards to both process, and the substantive issues to be resolved (custody, access, support, and property).
In regards to process, we will discuss the various options available to you to resolve the issues that need to be resolved between you and your spouse/partner. These options will include direct discussion with your spouse/partner, lawyer-lawyer negotiations, mediation, arbitration, and, litigation. I will guide you through each of these options and we can discuss, in detail, the route that best fits your particular situation.
We will also discuss the particular issues relevant to your case, such as parenting, division of property, etc. I will ask you to bring as much financial information and documentation with you to the consultation as you can (here is a list of Financial Documents for you to gather and bring with you), so that I can provide as much information as possible to you about how the law applies to your case. In advance of your consultation, it would be helpful (and save time during the consultation) if you were to complete and send us the Introductory Questionnaire.
I want you to leave the consultation with a solid understanding of how the law applies to your specific issues, and of how best to go about getting these issues resolved.
You can decide, either at the time of the consultation or afterwards, whether you wish to retain me. You are absolutely under no obligation whatsoever to retain me and, in some cases, my suggestion might be that you not retain me. For example, I might suggest that you and your spouse/partner proceed to mediation, and then retain me once a settlement has been reached in mediation, to review any agreement that has been drafted by the mediator.
“Retaining” me means signing a Retainer Agreement, and providing me with a financial retainer, or a deposit that I will hold in trust on account of services and disbursements that I will be rendering on your behalf. The amount of the retainer will depend upon the nature of services and the estimate of time that I anticipate spending on your matter.