We provide prospective clients with an initial consultation. Doing so without giving detailed legal advice is a delicate balance. So, here are some things to understand about your initial consultation:

1. Boundaries OF THE CONSULTATION:

• Scope: This is an initial meeting to discuss your situation and determine if there is a good fit for representation, not to provide you with specific legal advice.

• Nature of the Meeting: The purpose of the meeting is to understand your issues and outline how we can assist, rather than solving your legal problem during this meeting.

2. Gather Information:

• Listening: We will focus on listening to the description of your situation. We will also ask questions to gather relevant facts and understand the context of your situations without jumping to legal conclusions or providing solutions.

• Clarify Facts: We will try to clarify any ambiguities in your story to get a complete understanding of what you need.

3. Explain the Process:

• Outline the Legal Process: We will give you a general overview of the legal process related to your problem. We will try to explain how cases like yours are typically handled without delving into specific legal strategies or advice.

• Discuss Your Services: We can describe the services we offer and how we approach cases similar to yours. We will discuss our experience, team structure, and general strategies without giving detailed legal advice.

4. Discuss Fees and Representation:

• Fee Structure: Explain our fee structure, billing practices, and any initial retainer requirements. We want to be sure you understand the financial commitment involved in hiring us.

• Engagement Terms: Discuss the terms of engagement, including the scope of work, confidentiality, and attorney-client privilege once they decide to hire you.

5. Next steps:

• Next: We will suggest general next steps you can consider, again, without giving specific legal advice. For instance, we might recommend that you gather certain documents or think about certain aspects of their case.

Our goal is to give you a productive initial consultation that helps us understand your situation and helps you understand how we might assist with our legal services.