We hope you have a good experience at Geren Law.  We are always working at improving client service and would be happy to hear any suggestions you might have.  My practice has developed primarily from referrals that my clients make to their friends, family and co-workers.  I am glad that they have the confidence in me to make those referrals.  It is important to me that you leave my office feeling as though you were zealously represented, treated with respect, and billed for our services fairly. 

CONFLICTS OF INTERST

If I have already consulted with or represented a person who will have an adverse interest in the case or claim you have, I cannot represent you.  Your name and the name of the opposing party in your case will be checked against a conflict system we maintain prior to the time we meet.  If you have a consultation with me and provide me with the general facts of your case, but do not hire me, I still cannot represent the opposing party.  Just to come in and speak with me about your case requires us to keep some minimal data on you in our system.  You will be asked to complete a form seeking this information when you come in to see me.  This is also, why we must do in-office consultations rather than consult with you for the first time by phone.  Of course, your information is held in confidence and will not be released or shared. 

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN US

The stress of a divorce and especially the behavior of your spouse can put you on edge. Because financial and sometimes childcare arrangements are up in the air, and because spouses can be uncooperative regarding these matters, planning anything is extremely difficult. It is almost as if your life is not your own. It is not surprising that whenever your spouse acts unexpectedly or something happens that could worsen your plight, you feel like calling me and passing along the information. Sometimes, though, what has happened does not need to be communicated to me at all. I am not telling you that you should not call me when you think something important has occurred but sometimes a written log of such things serves a greater purpose in the end than a 5-minute phone call. Ask yourself, do I need to call about this, or would a letter or email be more effective? A letter serves the dual function of apprising me of the information and putting the information in writing. If you tell me something over the phone, either I must write it down at your expense or I will request that you send me something in writing, thereby increasing the fees incurred by you.

TELEPHONE CALLS

When I or my staff speak with you on the telephone, it is our practice to not bill less that .02 of an hour for any telephone call no matter how long or short the duration.  You are not billed for telephone calls to my office about billing questions or concerns. Your voice mail messages are checked regularly by me and my staff. It is important that you always leave me a telephone number where you can be reached, as I do not always have your file in front of me when I am returning your call. 

E-MAILS

We are happy to accept e-mail communications from you.  I do bill my time associated with reading and responding to your e-mails.  I bill a minimum of .02 of an hour to open and respond to your e-mail and perhaps longer depending on what you send and what my response entails. All correspondence sent to my office by e-mail is saved in your file in our case library on the computer.  It is oftentimes easier for you to contact me and for me to respond by e-mail rather than by phone.

                                               KEEP RECORDS

I advise each of my clients to keep a journal memorializing each day's events. Your journal may be used as evidence at trial. Keep it as factual as possible and do not put private thoughts into it, as it may be used as an exhibit during trial.  Keep track of phone calls you have with your spouse, where the children are, who they are with, whether your spouse missed a scheduled visit with them or denied your visit with them, whether you paid a joint bill or debt and how much it was, the day amount and check number of a support payment you made, etc.

Keep copies of everything you send me and everything you get from me. It is helpful to file the papers in date order so that you can find them when necessary.

BILLING

Legal representation is not something you are entitled to. It is a service you must pay for, just as you pay for food, clothing, utilities, and car repairs. You would not expect a towing service to tow your car for free if you broke down on the highway but could not afford to be towed. Nor should you expect me to represent you for free just because you are in a messy divorce and cannot afford to pay.  For that reason I require money be deposited into a Trust account that fees associated with your divorce may be drawn out from monthly.  This is called a retainer.  It is a pre-payment of your legal fees. I realize asking you for a large retainer means a big undertaking for you.  You may need to request a loan from a family member, friend, or financial institution to pay my retainer.  Please consider this:  if you would take out a loan for a car or a house, why not something as important as a divorce? I do not want to be your lawyer and your lender.  That will only complicate our attorney/client relationship.  I also require that after your Trust account drops below a certain level that it be replenished.  The fee agreement I provide to you will set out the amounts.

At the onset of each legal proceding I require that each client read, understand and sign a fee agreement that covers all aspects of billing and the requirements in retaining me as your attorney.

Our applicable rates are as follows:

Amy Sherman Geren                            $200.00/hour

Jeff Athy, Legal Assistant                        $70.00/hour*

Jackie Athy, Legal Assistant                    $70.00/hour*

*You will not pay my staff to transcribe my dictation, organize and index your file and other similar general office secretarial duties.  You do pay for their time associated with taking phone calls from you as they often consult with me to answer your question or have to retrieve your file and look for documents or information needed to answer your questions.  You will pay for their time when they draft, for my review, correspondence, pleadings, discovery responses, etc. associated with your case, and when they make calls to schedule hearings.  All documents drafted by my staff are fully and completely reviewed by me before filed or mailed.

Bills should be paid in full within 10 days from the day you receive the billing statement if you do not have money in the trust account to pay the bill or in the event you need to replenish your trust account.  We accept cash, personal check, Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.  A $30.00 fee will be charged in the event of a returned check.  Please read the fee agreement carefully regarding interest that is charged on past due accounts. 

There is no doubt that litigation is expensive.  I try to handle your case as economically and efficiently as I can, communicating with you regularly about the fees you have or will incur. In the event that your account is past due, it will be referred out for collection. I will request leave from the Court to withdraw from your case if you are delinquent in paying. Please be sure, before you retain a lawyer and begin litigation, that you have made plans and arrangements to pay the fees associated with that action. 

I, as your attorney, don't want to wait to be paid any more than you want to wait to have your phone calls returned. Your attitude about your legal bills is extremely important. Show that you understand the value of my time, and I will find it easier to respond to your legal needs.

APPOINTMENTS

It is important for you to have an appointment if you will be coming to see me.  I am oftentimes away from the office in court, depositions, settlement conferences, etc.  I like to set aside a specific time to talk with you rather than have you disappointed that I am not here when you arrive. You can contact Jeff or Jackie to set an appointment with me.  Sometimes, when you call with a question or concern, I will ask them to call you back and have you come in.  I do this not to increase your fees, but because I know the problem or issue would be best handled face to face.  I may need to draft something for you to sign, etc.  Please comply with their requests if they call you and ask you to schedule an appointment with me.

PRIORITIES

All of my clients are important to me and I realize that many of you are going through a very difficult time.  I try very hard to keep my caseload at a level that I can handle.  Please realize that there are other people just like you that I am trying to take care of and respond to.  I have to review your voice mail messages and e-mails and prioritize them in order to respond.  This is not to say that any of your concerns are more or less important than some other client.  However, at times my clients have immediate needs or emergencies.  I have to respond to those issues first.  Jeff and Jackie notify me promptly of the date and time you call and where to return your call.  I regularly read my e-mails.  If I have not responded to you as quickly as you would like, please trust that I will get to you as soon as I can.  There is no reason that any of you should wait more than 3 days for a call back from this office and I hope to respond to each of you quicker than that.  If you wait more than 3 days for someone to call you back, please call the office again or re-send your e-mail as a reminder that you are still waiting to hear from us.  In order to respond to each of you expeditiously, I will ask other staff members to handle your call if possible.

COPIES OF PLEADINGS AND CORRESPONDENCE

I try to always provide you with copies of things I send out on your case that will help you track the status and progress of your case.  I do not send out every document or correspondence that comes in, but I can do that upon request.  Please realize this will increase your expenses in your case.  If you do not wish to receive all this paperwork, please let us know.  This will save you expenses in your case and I am happy to just give you periodic summaries of what has occurred in your case.

CONTACT INFORMATION

You can reach me at:

Office:  934-9903

Office Fax: 934-7076

You can reach Jackie at:

Office:  934-9903

Office fax: 934-7076

E-mail:  jackie@gerenlawoffice.com

You can reach Jeff at:

Office: 934-9903

Office fax: 934-7076

E-mail: jeff@gerenlawoffice.com

Thank you,

Amy Sherman Geren