Online Consultation for Legal Services - David J. Willis Attorney

Online Consultations

Explanation and Engagement Letter

1. INITIAL CONSULTATIONS

Consultation Recommended. Unless you are absolutely certain that a particular document is what is needed, and you are absolutely certain of its legality in the circumstances, a paid consultation is recommended so we can review your case and determine the correct legal solution. We may at our discretion require an initial paid consultation or deposit before proceeding with any particular case.

Acceptance of Cases. We accept or decline cases (including requests for a consultation) in our discretion. We are a small and specialized law firm and cannot accept every case.

Introductory Consultation. Our legal counsel begins with an initial paid consultation. Note please that there is no pre-consultation consultation, i.e., a prior stage where the lawyer answers questions about what advice might be given in the consultation.

Introductory Consultation Fees. The introductory consult fee of $250 (discounted from our usual $450 hourly rate) is available at our discretion to new clients only, for the first hour only, and is limited to individuals only (not corporations or LLCs). Time past the first intro hour is billed at the hourly rate. The introductory consult fee is not available to existing or returning clients.

CONSULTATION PROCESS

Consultations for New Clients are Handled Exclusively Online. All initial consultations are now efficiently handled online, not in the office. Office visits are not included in the initial consult fee. In-office services, to the extent available, incur higher fees.

Established Process. We have an established process for online consults based on working with over a thousand online clients. No variation is permitted. We have received excellent feedback on our consultation process over the years. We ask inquirers who are not 100% comfortable with our consultation process to please seek counsel from another firm.

Duration: One Hour, Three Business Days. An online consultation is intended to substitute for the same time one would spend with an attorney if the client physically visited a law office for an hour. The consultation may last up to the prescribed time limit (1 hour) over a period not to exceed 3 consecutive business days, when it automatically concludes. It is NOT a three-day consultation. It is a one-hour consult that may be spread over three business days. We will of course extend the three-day limit if our responses are delayed on our end for some reason (by an unusually heavy workload, for example). This can occasionally happen. Reasonableness applies.

Extending Time. Time past the first introductory consultation hour is billed at our $450 hourly rate. An advance deposit for extension time may be required before proceeding.

Pre-Conditions on the Consultation Not Permitted. Some inquirers want to place conditions on the consultation, e.g., they will only proceed if we promise that our attorney will be able to resolve their legal issue. Other than stating that the matter is within our area of practice, we do not agree to any pre-conditions on the consultation or offer any assurances as to the outcome. If you require certain preconditions or assurances prior to the initial consultation, please seek counsel from another firm.

Initial Four Steps. After submitting the client inquiry form on the Contact page:

(1) be sure that we have told you that we are available to consult on the legal matter you wish to discuss (we may have already made this clear in our response);

(2) read, sign, and return our consultation engagement letter;

(3) make advance payment of the quoted fee on the payment page of the website;

(4) supply background and context by email, copies of relevant documents, and a list of any questions you have.

Summary of Facts of the Client’s Situation. We ask for a concise summary. What is your case about, briefly? Who is involved? Where do events occur? In Texas? Which city or county? When? What is the timeline? Why are you seeking legal assistance? If you are a real estate investor or business person, what is your business model? What type of transactions do you do? What is your entity structure? Your plans for the future? Note that the time it takes for the attorney to read client messages and background documents is included in the hour allotted to the consultation.

Initial Email Exchange. Our goal is to first gain a basic understanding of the facts of the case (and documentation) before answering questions. We always begin with an email exchange/discussion so we can gather basic facts and documents. Q & A follows.

Optional Phone Call. An optional call is available so long as time remains within the allotted hour. We do not jump straight to a phone call without first gathering basic facts and documents.

Our Response Time. No scheduling or fixed appointment time is required to begin the process. We respond promptly although this can vary somewhat due to our backlog and the complexity of your inquiry. We try to be flexible and ask that you be flexible as well.

Automatic Conclusion. The consultation (document analysis, email exchange and optional call) automatically concludes (without notice or consent) after 1 hour or 3 business days of payment whichever occurs first.

Reasonable Scope of Work. The quantity and scope of the client’s inquiry must be such that it can reasonably and realistically be addressed within a one-hour time frame for a consultation. This is common sense. The consultation hour should include time for the attorney to: (1) read and analyze your documentation (this is part of the allotted time); (2) answer your questions; and (3) give legal advice as to your best course of action. We may decline to proceed with a consultation that is so large in scope or so document-heavy that it cannot possibly be addressed in a one-hour timeframe.

Complex or Document-Heavy Cases. It is important to be realistic and reasonable about the quantity and scope of material that will be discussed in the introductory hour. Not every legal problem can be analyzed and solved in a one-hour consultation. In fact, few can. In complex cases, we may decline to proceed with an introductory consult and instead: (1) ask the client to please narrow the scope of the inquiry so the consultation can reasonably fit within an hour; (2) offer to proceed at our $450 hourly rate with a one-hour minimum; or (3) issue a refund, but only so long as the legal advisory process has not yet begun.

DOCUMENT TRANSMISSION

Supporting Documents. Please provide legible and relevant copies of supporting documents in easily downloadable form Note that the time it takes for us to read and analyze your supporting documents is included in the time allotted to your consultation.

Email Attachments. Email attachments should be in pdf, Word, WordPerfect, Excel, or other common software. Please do not send documents in the physical mail. Avoid Dropbox or any method that requires us to get a password and enter a third-party site in order to gain access to your documents. Do NOT apply any form of encryption. If we have to spend 20 minutes figuring out how to open an encrypted file or gain access to a third-party site, that time will be docked against your allotted hour.

Transmission of Documents. Please scan/email in the usual manner, each as a single document and a separate attachment, and NOT as multiple individual pages or separate jpegs. This makes the project difficult for us, and the extra time is docked against your allotted hour. Alternatively, you may fax us at (832) 201-5321.

Avoid JPEG. JPEG may be suitable for photos but is not used for legal documents. We require that supporting documents be legible and easy to read.

Data Dumps. Send us only the information or documentation that we request. Dozens or hundreds of extra and unnecessary pages make your file much more cumbersome and time-consuming for us to download, read, and manage. We rely on you to screen out irrelevant material. The time it takes to sort through large data dumps of irrelevant material is docked against your allotted hour.

Client Support after Consultation. We are occasionally asked if we offer ongoing support to clients after a consultation. This concept has been compared to tech support. Giving ongoing legal advice is part of our core business and fees apply. Ongoing support involves additional attorney time and is not free.

2. CONSULTATION FEES

Introductory Consultation Fees. Introductory consult fees (discounted from our usual $450 hourly rate) are available at our discretion to new clients only, for the first hour only, and is limited to individuals only (not corporations or LLCs). Time past the first intro hour is billed at the hourly rate and will require an advance deposit. The introductory consult fee is NOT available to existing or returning clients.

Advance Payment is Required. We do not bill after the fact for initial consultations. Payment options are located on the payment page of the website. Checks are not accepted.

Acceptance of the Consultation. Please do not make payment until we have clearly confirmed that we are able to provide a consultation on your case. This may already be self-evident based on our preliminary communications. If in doubt, inquire. Providing an initial consultation does not obligate our firm to continue handling the matter going forward.

Fees for Initial General Consultations. Fees are $250 for matters up to $1M; $350 for matters from $1M to $1.5M; and $450 (which is our usual hourly rate) for matters involving more than $1.5M. The initial consultation fee is a flat fee for the hour and is not subject to partial-hour accounting or partial-hour refunds.

Fees for Real Estate Contract Review. A review/comment consultation is available for earnest money contracts so long as they are unsigned and already completed on a TREC or TXR form (custom contracts excluded). Fees are $250 for a sales price of up to $1M; $350 for contracts from $1M to $1.5M; and $450 (our usual hourly rate) over that.

Time to Review Documents. The time the attorney spends reading your documents is included in the allotted hour. Realistically, one hour may not be sufficient to analyze and discuss every document. Note that our review of documents and then providing written comments may use up most if not all of the allotted hour. If the contract is complex, or extensive questions are anticipated, extension time may need to be booked at the hourly rate.

Higher-Dollar Transactions. For reasons of complexity and professional liability, one should expect that legal fees will increase as monetary amounts involved increase. Our fee schedule reflects this.

Refunds. Nearly all of our fees are non-refundable flat fees. However, if it is determined very early in the process (before substantial attorney time is expended) that your legal matter is not within our area of practice, we will promptly provide a full refund by means of: (1) an immediate Paypal refund or (2) a law firm check sent by U.S. Mail. However, there is no refund once the attorney expends time and effort examining a file and discussing it with the client. Reading client documents and answering questions consumes time. Once this occurs, a consultation has occurred (value has been provided to the client), and payment for the consultation is non-refundable.

Unfavorable Legal Advice. There is no refund if the legal advice we provide is unfavorable to the client or we (at our discretion) decline to handle the case after the consultation is completed. A consultation is not an advance commitment on our part to handle the case going forward.

Consultations Not Credited to Future Services. Consultations are stand-alone value-added services. Attorney time has been expended and benefit has been provided to the client, so fees paid have been fully earned. Accordingly, consult fees are not applied as credits toward future legal services.

3. LIMITATIONS ON THE CONSULTATION

No Review of DIY, Internet, or Junk Documents. We offer review/comment on documents (including TREC and TXR real estate contracts so long as they are unsigned and filled in) or on legal documents that have been prepared a lawyer or real estate broker. We do not review homegrown documents, forms from the Internet, or real estate guru seminar junk. These cannot be fixed by a “review.” To meet professional legal standards, they must be replaced, thus fees will be higher than for an intro consultation.

Complex or Document-Heavy Matters. These types of cases are usually unsuitable for an introductory one-hour consult. They cannot reasonably be handled in that format. Legal advice and services for complex cases will, at our discretion, incur our usual $450 hourly rate from the outset.

Real Estate Contracts That are Already Signed. The contract controls the transaction, the rights and remedies of the parties, any special requirements, the conditions of closing, and the content of the closing documents. If the contract is already signed, the opportunity to affect these issues or to add beneficial provisions has likely been lost. Accordingly, if we review such a contract, our comments are (by necessity) limited to explaining what the client has already signed rather than focusing on changes or negotiating points. We may decline to offer a consultation or other service in cases where the contract is already signed.

Review/Comment Versus a Total Re-Write. The flat-fee review and comment process offers only that: review and comment. An introductory consultation fee is not a flat fee for the total re-write of a legal document. If a document is so flawed, deficient, or incomplete that it must be re-written or replaced, then clearly more than one hour of attorney time will be involved. In so doing, we move out of the review/comment category and into the category of creating a custom document, which can be expected to incur higher fees (probably hourly at our discretion).

Limited Liability in Real Estate Consultations. In the case of limited services (e.g., a consultation that does not include full representation in the entire transaction) the client agrees that our law firm shall have NO professional liability whatsoever for portions of the transaction not handled or advised upon by us. We do not stand behind any part of the transaction that a client handles DIY. We are not liable for a client’s DIY mistakes.

No Texting Please. We do not offer consultations or any other legal services by text. While texting may be suitable for casual communications, texting of sentence fragments and one-liners is not suitable for a nuanced legal case. Please use a keyboard device and take your time.

No Group Consults Please. We do not offer group consultations with multiple persons at different email addresses. Group discussions may work in a law office conference room but they quickly become chaotic and unproductive by email. We work with one client (or married couple) at one email address.

No Consults on Behalf of Third Parties. We occasionally receive inquiries from persons who are asking about the legal situation of another. For liability/confidentiality reasons, our policy is to deal directly with the actual client and not through an intermediary.

No Guarantees. We cannot guarantee that a consultation will offer a remedy for your legal issue, nor can we guarantee that our guidance will be what you want to hear. Occasionally, we have to deliver difficult legal advice. We sometimes have to tell clients that there is no easy remedy. Also, consultations are offered with the understanding that our firm is not obligated to accept or handle the case going forward.

No Other Services Included in Flat Fees. A consultation is a stand-alone value-added legal service rendered for a flat fee. It does not include other services such as document preparation, nor does a document request include a free consultation. All are separate items in a flat-fee system. Multiple diverse topics may not be bundled under one consultation fee.

Our Attorney Also has a Real Estate Broker’s License. Our attorney is a licensed Texas real estate broker. However, this office is primarily a law firm and the advice and services we provide are legal in nature. In consulting with us, we are not acting as your real estate broker. Any brokerage representation by us requires a signed written agreement in advance. Consulting a real estate attorney does NOT substitute for obtaining the broader services of an agent or broker.

Client ID. The requirement of government-issued photo ID is now common at law firms, medical offices, and other professional firms everywhere. Fraud is rampant. We do not work with anyone who declines to provide ID.

Business Hours, Weekends, and Holidays. We take business hours seriously. We are not Amazon. Traditional business hours apply (Monday through Friday, 8-5 CST) subject to our posted vacation schedule. By special request, it is possible that certain services may be available during off hours for an additional fee of 20%.

After-Hours Emails. After-hours, weekend, and holiday communications are discouraged and we have absolutely no obligation to respond to same during off hours. Such emails are viewed by us as being received on the next regular traditional business day.

Terms of Service. All of our firm’s terms of service (transparently posted on the website) apply without exception to all persons receiving legal services from this firm.

4. FLAT-FEE POLICIES

Flat Fees. As an accommodation to clients, many documents are individually priced in the form of flat fees. A flat-system itemizes legal services into different, separately billable events. In a flat-fee system, payment of a single fee does not “include” any other services. Multiple diverse tasks incur separate flat fees.

Fees Quoted Refer to Online Services. Fees quoted herein are for services provided online, supplemented if necessary by phone and fax. To the extent that in-office fees may be available, they can be expected to incur significantly higher fees than the corresponding online fee.

Fee Quotes Are Estimates. Flat-fee quotes are estimates only until we have complete information about the case or transaction. In other words, a flat-fee system works only if tasks and fees are transparent and there is mutual agreement as to the nature and scope of the legal service to be performed. The consultation process is not a game of “gotcha.” Rules of reasonableness and good faith apply.

Flat Fees in Specific Cases May Occasionally Vary from Posted Fees. We reserve the right to adjust fee quotes to suit the specific circumstances of an individual client or case. Although we sincerely strive for certainty and transparency in setting our flat fees, they may be subject to some variability, at our discretion, since no two clients or cases are ever alike. Reasonableness and situational appropriateness apply.

Changed Circumstances. Circumstances may change after our initial quote and thus a higher fee will, at our discretion, be quoted. Example: an attorney unexpectedly appears representing the other side in a transaction. This event will substantially increase the quantity of legal work significantly beyond what was anticipated. A higher fee quote will be appropriate as a result.

Flat-Fee quotes are Good for 3 Business Days. Then then automatically expire without necessity for notice to anyone. This includes statements sent as estimates for legal services. After the three-day period, quoted fees may change.

Accounting for Flat Fees. No hourly accounting is ever kept or made in flat-fee matters and the client has no right to demand one.

Costs in a Flat-Fee System. Flat fees are always quoted as “plus costs.” Costs include clerk’s filing fees, the cost of an LLC company book ordered from the printer, etc. For example, document preparation does not “include” the task of recording a document and paying recording fees. Costs such as recording and filing fees are always in addition to a quoted flat fee.

No Shoehorning. “Shoehorning” (slipping in additional items on top of a flat fee) is not allowed.

Switching from Flat Fees to Hourly Billing. In some cases, as a case develops, it may become apparent that hourly billing is more appropriate than a flat fee, and a switch from one to the other will be warranted. After discussions with the client, we may request such a switch. This firm will not be held to a flat fee if the volume or scope of work substantially or unexpectedly exceeds what was reasonably anticipated or what is ordinary and customary for the task. This is part of our overall reasonableness policy. If the client does not agree to switch to hourly billing, we may choose to end our employment on terms which this firm, in our sole discretion, deems equitable.

Means of Payment. Payment options (including Visa, Paypal, direct deposit, and wire) are as listed on the payment page of the website. We reserve the right to determine which manner of payment is acceptable and which is not in any given case. Neither personal nor business checks are accepted because of the epidemic of bad checks. E-checks are not accepted because of the time (3 to 5 days) required for them to clear. Chase Quick Pay is not accepted. Pre-paid legal insurance plans are not accepted.

No Contingency Fees. We do not accept contingency cases in any form. Flat fees are due regardless of the outcome of the legal matter. There is no refund if the outcome is not to the client’s liking.

Refunds. We reserve the right to terminate our representation at any time if we consider it appropriate to do so and, if equitable, issue a refund in an appropriate amount. If time and effort have been expended, a consultation fee (at minimum) will be deducted from the amount refunded. Refund is exclusively by law firm check mailed by first-class U.S. Mail to a domestic (i.e., United States) address.

Expiration of Flat Fees. Payment of a flat fee does not result in this law firm being obligated to deliver services indefinitely into the future. For example, online consultations automatically end after three business days; documents we provide are also automatically considered final three business days after delivery to the client. All payments, retainers, overpayments, or credits to a client´s account must be used within six months or they automatically expire in their entirety, without exception and without exception.

Fees and Retainers are Not Held in Trust or Escrow. All fee and retainer payments belong to the attorney immediately upon payment, without condition or exception. There is no requirement whatsoever that such funds be held “in trust” or “in escrow” or deposited in a separate or segregated account for any purpose or for any period of time. There is no requirement that interest on such funds be paid to the client.

Hourly Billing as an Alternative to Flat Fees. Our hourly rate is $450 with a one-hour minimum.

Terms of Service. All of our firm’s terms of service (transparently posted on the website) apply without exception to all persons receiving legal services from this firm.

Engagement Letter. This document is an engagement letter setting out the terms and conditions of your consultation. If you wish to proceed, your agreement and signature(s) are required below.

I/We understand and agree to the foregoing terms.

________________________________ _______________
SIGNATURE DATE

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