Working With Us
We hope to be as transparent as possible with perspective clients.Principles of Engagement
We want to ensure that our clients have a great experience with us, so much so that we have adopted the following client bill of rights. Our clients have the right:
- To not be surprised by a bill – we will endeavor to provide good faith estimates for most legal work, and give prompt notice if that estimate is off track.
- To prompt responses – we will endeavor to respond to our clients promptly, typically within one day for important matters.
- To competent representation – we keep up to date in our practice areas; and where we are not the best lawyers for the issue, we will refer our clients to the best lawyers we know to help them.
- To honesty and integrity – this sounds simple and obvious but sadly it is not always adhered to by lawyers we encounter.
- To transparency – as a subset of rule 4, we keep our clients informed of facts and issues that come to our attention – the good and the bad.
The above client bill of rights have a corollaries – what we expect from our clients. We expect our clients to:
- Fully disclose all material issues – the attorney client privilege is the highest privilege recognized in law – and so our clients should not fear disclosing information to us. If we are not fully informed, we may provide erroneous advice, or have to re-do work to adjust for the new information.
- Be responsive to our questions – our estimates on bills and other work assumes our clients will be responsive to us, and not cause us undue time in searching for, investigating or otherwise deriving those responses.
- Pay our bills, or if a bill is disputed, inform us promptly – we pay our bills to our vendors, we expect our clients to pay ours, or promptly inform us of any disputed items (and pay all undisputed amounts).
Following the above simple tenets will result in a reasonable bill, work performed promptly, and a positive result.
Do I need a lawyer?
It depends on the issue you are facing. For example, if you are starting a solo business and filing a single member LLC in Maryland, the State of Maryland has a pretty good online filing system, see this link. You probably do not need a lawyer. If you are starting a more complex entity (more than one owner), soliciting investment, or engaging in borrowing with a bank, you may need a lawyer. Our initial consultations are without charge and one aspect of that consultation is to determine if we are necessary, or otherwise help you reduce fees. Businesses should view lawyers as one tool in their toolbox to achieve a desired result. Lawyers are also an investment, and when working correctly, should reduce risk in a transaction or legal problem.
Our Engagement Letter
In order to retain us, we ask all clients agree to the terms of our Engagement Letter. If you are considering reaching out to us to become a client, please view the letter here to understand what we will ask of you and what you may expect of us.
Client Intake
If you are ready to take the next steps, we ask that you please fill out our client intake form in order to make opening your file and commencing our work a smooth process.