FAQs

If a Judge made a legal or factual error in your case then you may have a basis to appeal or ask for reconsideration. There are very strict deadlines for filing appeals and motions to reconsider. As soon as you get a decision that you think is wrong you should contact an attorney for a consultation and find out what you can do and what the best course of action is for your case.

Read below for more information about challenging a court’s decision.

When you receive Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents (commonly called “discovery”) there are a number of things to consider. Every case is unique and can have different time deadlines or other factors that will determine what you are required to do. As a general matter here are some things to consider when you receive discovery:

1. You are required to respond
2. There are deadlines for your response, so be careful
3. You can send discovery to the other party too
4. There are rules about what to do if a party does not respond to discovery
5. Failing to respond may result in being charged with the other party’s attorney’s fees or not being allowed to present evidence at your trial
6. While you may be required to provide a lot of information in discovery that seems irrelevant to you, not everything is ‘discoverable’

If you have received discovery are are not sure how to answer or what you need to do, consider a consultation with an attorney. You may benefit from legal coaching and assistance just with your discovery issues, or you may want an attorney to help you through the rest of your case. Either way, a brief consultation can help you make sure you are taking the right next steps and not missing anything that will hurt your case later.

The exchange of information during a divorce or custody case is called the Discovery process. It may include written questions called Interrogatories, Requests for Production of Documents, Subpoenas for information from third parties, depositions and more.

Have a conversation with an attorney who provides unbundled services and can listen to the facts of your case, discuss what you can do for yourself, and help you figure out what level of representation makes sense for your case and your budget.

When you hire an attorney for full representation you are paying that attorney an hourly rate for all of the time they spend on your case, usually you are paying for every 6-minute increment of time spent on your case. A full representation includes an attorney entering their appearance with the court so that all mail and other correspondence about your case goes to your attorney and not to you. In a full representation you will pay your attorney for correspondence and phone calls with you, the court, opposing attorneys, mediators etc. You’ll also pay for your attorney to review documents, respond to motions filed by the opposing party, conduct discovery, prepare and file simple procedural motions like motions to postpone or short financial statements, and otherwise prepare your case for settlement and/or trial. When you pay a flat fee for unbundled services you pay up front for the particular service you need, court communication comes through you, and you do not pay for simpler things you can do yourself.

It depends. Not every case is appropriate for unbundled services. While many of the issues that arise in family cases are similar and can be resolved with legal coaching, document preparation, or other limited representation, some cases have more serious issues and a full representation attorney may be required to have your best chance of success. For example, if your case involves allegations of sexual or physical abuse, or you have other complex or serious issues like multiple financial assets to divide, then you may need a full representation attorney.

Unbundling legal services simply refers to the practice of dividing a legal case into pieces and hiring an attorney to help you only with the part or parts that you need help with, rather than hiring an attorney for “full representation” to do everything in the case. Unbundled legal services can include anything from legal coaching, to document preparation, to representation in court at a final hearing. Unbundled services are typically charged a flat fee as opposed to the hourly charges for full representation.

When you hire an attorney for unbundled services you can handle your case one step at a time and only pay for the services you need. You can successfully represent yourself in your case and still have an attorney helping and supporting you.

Our payment plans offer a way for clients to still receive legal help when they cannot afford a large retainer fee upfront. These plans consist of a smaller initial deposit followed by weekly payments. Just as with a retainer this money is placed in a trust account and still belongs to the client until earned by the attorney or used for legitimate expenses. If a client’s trust account balance ever exceeds the amount we would ask for as a retainer the payments are paused. The payments are then restarted if the account balance falls to where we would ask for a retainer refresher. If there are unused funds left in a client’s trust account that money must be returned to the client.

A retainer is a down payment for the expenses and fees in a case. This money is placed in a trust account and still belongs to the client until earned by the attorney or used for legitimate expenses. If the trust account falls below a certain amount during a case, then the client will be asked to replenish it in order to continue receiving services. The retainer does not usually cover all of the cost of a case, it is a prepayment for a certain number of hours of the attorney’s services and expenses. However, if there are unused funds left in a client’s trust account that money must be returned to the client.