Online Consultations

Explanation & Instructions

Consultation Process

If you are undecided about which action to take, need to discuss your legal issues and options, or require advice and information before you can proceed, then a paid initial consultation is your best first step.

Our goal with a consultation is to promptly and thoroughly discuss your legal matter and then provide first-rate legal advice. We have worked with over a thousand online clients (in addition to decades of office practice) and have an established process we ask that inquirers follow. We do not vary the process. The feedback we receive is quite positive.

Consultation Fees

No fees are incurred at the initial inquiry stage but there is a charge for consultations. A $250 introductory consult fee is available to new clients in general real estate and asset protection cases (judgments and litigation excluded).

The introductory consult fee is not available for matters in excess of $1M. In such cases the consult fee is $450 (our regular hourly rate).

After the initial consult, most fees are flat fees rather than hourly. Our goal is total transparency when it comes to legal fees. See our fee schedule.

Next Steps

Steps going forward from the initial inquiry are:

(1) be sure that we have told you that we are available to discuss the kind of legal matter you wish to discuss (we may have already indicated this in our response to your inquiry);

(2) make advance payment on the payment page of the website at https://lonestarlandlaw.com/payment; and

(3) supply factual background, relevant documents, and a list of any questions you may have. The consultation then lasts up to one hour and must be completed within 3 business days. No fixed appointment time is required for an online consultation.

Background Information We Need

We will need a concise summary of your situation, including: What is your case about, briefly? Who are the parties involved? Where does it occur? In Texas? Which city or county? When does it occur—what is the timeframe/timeline of events? Why are you seeking legal assistance? A consultation? Document preparation? A lawsuit?

If you are a real estate investor, what is your business model? What type of transactions do you do? Who are the participants and what is your entity structure? Any future goals?

Payment

Advance payment is required. Payment options are at https://lonestarlandlaw.com/payment. The system will send a payment confirmation by email and your case will be placed in our queue. No appointment is necessary. We seek to provide full transparency as to consultation fees and our overall schedule of fees and legal services.

Our Response Time

We are usually available to promptly begin work after receiving a summary of basic facts, copies of supporting documents, and payment. This may vary with the complexity of the case and our pending backlog. We try to be flexible and ask that you be flexible as well. Traditional business hours apply.

Phone Calls

We begin with an email exchange and discussion so our attorney can gather basic facts and copies of relevant documents. Afterward, an optional follow-up phone or video call may be scheduled if needed. However, we do not jump straight to a phone call without first gathering basic facts and documents by email.

Some inquirers seek a free phone call with our attorney before committing to a paid consultation. Such calls inevitably involve legal questions and attorney time, so we view them as consultations. We regret that we are unable to offer any free attorney time, whether online, in the office, or by phone.

Scheduling

Online consultations do not require a fixed appointment time, although phone or video calls do require an appointment during traditional business hours (Monday through Friday, 8-5 CST) subject to our posted vacation schedule. After-hours and weekend emails are considered received on the next business day.

Three-Day Limit

An online consultation is intended to substitute for the same time one would have with an attorney if one went to an office and discussed the case 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. Traditional business hours apply.

We will of course extend the three-day limit if our responses are delayed for some reason (by an unusually heavy workload, for example). This can happen.

No Texting Please

We do not offer consultations or any other legal services by text. While texting may be suitable for quick and casual communications, texting of sentence fragments and one-liners is not a professional way to discuss a nuanced legal case. Please use a keyboard device and take your time.

No Group Consults Please

We do not offer group consults with multiple persons at different email addresses. While group legal discussions are fine in an office conference room, they quickly become chaotic by email. Our policy is to work with one client at one email address. Online consults for groups is simply not something we offer.

No Guarantees

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

Supporting Documentation

(1) Supporting Documents. We will need to see your background documents in order to thoroughly advise you, so after retaining us (not before please, since we will not yet have set up your file), you should send your supporting documents by email to LoneStarLandLaw@aol.com or by fax to (832) 201-5327. Attachments should be in pdf, Word, WordPerfect, Excel, or other established software. Please do not send documents in the physical mail. Also, for reasons of legibility and clarity, please avoid jpeg or i-phone photos of documents.

(2) Send Directly Relevant Documents Only. Sending us a hundred-page title company file when we’ve requested only a three-page warranty deed would be an example to avoid. This adds to download and handling time and may increase your fees.

(3) Document-Intensive Consultations Are a Special Case. Some new cases arrive with many background documents that need to be reviewed before anything can be done. The time it takes for us to read and analyze your documents is included in the attorney time allotted to your consultation. In complex cases, multiple billable hours may be required. Not every legal problem can be analyzed and solved in a one-hour consultation.

(4) Encryption. We need immediate and easy access to your documents in order to do our job. Please avoid barriers such as passwords or encryption; read-only attachments that cannot be downloaded or printed; or requiring that we first go to a third-party document site, obtain a password or register in order to enter; etc.

(5) Identification Required. The requirement of government-issued photo ID is now universal at law firms, medical offices, and other professional firms everywhere.

Payment Policies

(1) Flat fees. Initial consultation fees are advance, non-refundable flat fees that are not subject to hourly accounting during the first hour. There is no partial-hour accounting in initial consultations and there are no partial refunds.

(2) Payment Options. We offer a variety of payment options on the website including credit/debit and Paypal as well as wire transfer and direct deposit to our operating account at Wells Fargo. However, please do not make payment until we have confirmed that we are able to accept your case. Advance payment is required for all legal services. We do not send bills after the fact.

(3) Itemized Statement. If you would like a no-obligation itemized statement prior to making payment, we will gladly provide one. We will need the name and mailing address of the person or company to be billed, the address of any real property that is the subject of your inquiry, and other basic details so that we can generate a proper invoice.

(4) Consultations and Future Fees. Consultations are stand-alone value-added legal services and are not credited toward future fees. Also, a consultation does not include other services such as document preparation, nor does a document request include a free consultation. These are separate items in a flat-fee system.

(5) Refunds. If it is determined very early in the process that your legal matter is not within our area of practice, then a refund (by means of a law firm check sent by U.S. Mail) will be promptly provided. There is no refund of any part of an initial consultation fee once the attorney expends time and effort examining a file and discussing it with the client. Similarly, there is no refund if the legal advice is unfavorable to the client or our firm declines to handle the case beyond the initial consultation.

Courtesy Required

We realize this is the internet. However, inquirers who are rude to staff, overly entitled, insulting, demanding, disrespectful, or belligerent (yes, this unfortunately happens) will be immediately terminated. Please be courteous and professional.

Our Terms of Service Apply to Everyone

Please read our firm’s complete policies at the Fees & Policies page of the website. These terms of service apply without exception to all inquirers and clients in place of individual fee agreements or engagement letters. By proceeding with a consult you agree to these terms.

 “David Willis is an excellent attorney. His online process was very efficient and easy. He is by far the easiest attorney I’ve ever dealt with. I give him my highest possible recommendation without reservation.”

“It was a delight to work with David via the online process. He is straightforward, very knowledgeable and very responsive. I received quality legal documents from him. His fees are very reasonable as well. I would recommend him in a heartbeat!”

Our online legal expertise saves valuable time while preserving first-rate quality.

Board-Certified, Top-Rated Attorney with 40 Years Experience in Texas Real Estate Law and Asset Protection