Potential clients who call or email law offices asking for an estimate are often frustrated because there are no easy answers. With certain types of cases, there are "normal" fee ranges. But in many cases, the "range" varies so widely it gives little guidance.

There are many reasons for this. The main reason is that you are only part of the situation. Although you may know that you will never intentionally prolong litigation, or complicate things, you don't know what the other participants in the case will do. The "other participants" may be a divorcing spouse, former business partner, opposing attorney, the U.S. immigration service, or a judge, arbitrator or mediator in the case. The opposing party may require depositions or interrogatories, refuse to settle, or ask for additional court hearings. The judge in the case may impose specific requirements and a calendar of when and how the case will progress. The U.S. immigration service may ask for more information. All of these events add time, and expense to your case. A case that may have an initial time estimate of say, 10 hours, could end up taking 25 hours to complete.

In order to represent you, your attorney has to be ready and able to do his/her best for you, and to put in the time and effort that it takes to do just that, while running a successful business and paying salaries and overhead. For that reason, our firm requires an initial consultation, with a reasonable consult fee.

In some cases it is easier to give a fairly accurate estimate prior to taking to the client. As you would expect, these types of matters are generally ones that involve fewer variables (drafting a simple will or powers of attorney, setting up a corporation, doing a name change.)

It is important to build trust in the attorney/client relationship from the very beginning. For that reason, it is best for the client to have a consult with an attorney so that the estimate can be a realistic, informed one, leading to fewer surprises and dissatisfaction later on, and allowing the attorney, staff, and client to budget adequate time and resources to properly handle the case.