The Consultation
Your first meeting with us
Our initial consultation is a working meeting. By the time it's over, you'll have a legal analysis of your specific situation and a clear picture of your options.
What happens in the meeting
Before we start, we’ll ask you for permission to record the audio of the meeting so we can use it to help us prepare notes. If you prefer that we don’t, we’ll honor your wishes and just take notes by hand. If you do authorize us to record, it’ll enable us to provide more robust notes. We believe in using AI and other tech to help us serve our clients better and this is a task it’s particularly well-suited for.
During the meeting, we’ll ask a lot of questions because the details matter. The right approach to a probate matter, an estate plan, or a guardianship often depends on specifics that aren't obvious from the surface, and we want to understand your situation fully before we can give you meaningful advice. We’re not just giving cookie-cutter advice; we’re giving you legal advice specific to your situation and your family’s needs.
After we have a full picture of the situation, we’ll give you our analysis. We'll tell you what we see, what your options are, and what we'd recommend, including when we think a simpler or lower-cost approach makes more sense than a comprehensive one. We'll flag any complications and explain what they mean practically. If there are things we don't yet know that would affect the answer, we'll say so.
Before you arrive
We don't book consultations cold. Before your appointment is ever scheduled, our intake coordinator reviews your situation, confirms there's no conflict of interest, and sends you a worksheet to complete in advance. It covers the basics: who's involved, what assets look like, what documents you have, what you're trying to accomplish.
That worksheet does two things. It lets us hit the ground running instead of spending your consultation time on background. And it means that by the time you sit down with us, we already have reason to believe this is a matter we can help with; if we can tell upfront we’re not the best fit for your need, we’ll refer you to trusted colleagues who can help.
Bring or send beforehand any relevant documents you have: a will, a trust, a deed, financial account statements, prior court filings, whatever applies to your situation. Don't worry if you don't have everything or aren't sure what's relevant. Bring what you have and we'll work with it.
What you leave with
After the consultation, you'll receive written notes summarizing what we discussed and what we recommend. We’ll also quote you a flat fee for the recommended scope of work, if applicable.
If you’re not ready to move forward yet right away, you still leave with actionable legal advice for future reference. If you do move forward with us, you have a good idea what to expect. You've met us, heard how we think, you understand the plan, and you have a flat fee quote. We know the decision to hire a law firm is a big one; we want to ensure that by the time you’re ready to move forward, that decision is one you can make confidently.