General FAQ’s

A: Our fees are generally structured based on the time it takes to complete the tasks to reach your goals. The rates charged are consistent with similar elder law experts in the State of Florida.

One of the purposes of the initial consultation is to help determine your goals, how to get to your goal, and to quote the fee to get to your goal.

It is very difficult to quote a flat fee on this website or during your first call to the office.

Consider this:

Imagine calling a realtor and asking, “How much will you list my house for?”

Does the realtor immediately reply, “We will list it for $435,000.”

No.

Why?

Because the realtor needs to know the property’s location, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, general condition of the property, and so forth.

The same concept applies to quoting fees for your legal matter.

We have handled things for $250 and we have handled cases where we’ve been paid $30,000. It all depends on the situation, the facts, and your goals.

As a general practice…

• Estate planning (creation of Wills, Trusts, Durable Power of Attorney) is billed hourly.
• Medicaid Application and planning is billed on a minimum flat fee basis.
• Guardianship and probate are billed on an hourly basis.

You are welcome to ask for our current billing rates when you call to set your consultation.

At our firm, we assign specific tasks to specific persons with the lowest rate to effectively complete the task. For example, you do not want to pay the attorney to call to follow up on information requests at the attorney’s rate, as we have a legal assistant to perform that task at a lower rate. Conversely, you wouldn’t want the legal assistant to help you guide an important case decision that task belongs to the attorney whose knowledge base and education is more expanded.

A: The legal fee for an initial 90-minute consultation is $500. Your benefits for attending this consultation will be:

1. Answers to all your questions you bring to us at the consultation. Whatever cannot be answered at the consultation will be researched free of charge and you will promptly receive an answer.
2. Clarify points of confusion and misunderstanding – the internet and friends/family can present you with a lot of conflicting information.
3. Specific steps to get to your goals and you are given options on the route to take to reach and implement your end-result goal.
4. A quote for legal fees to reach your goal.
5. If applicable and time permits, very basic estate document drafting.

The initial consultation is not a sales pitch. It is a planning meeting with the purpose to answer all your questions and burning issues. The total fee quoted at the end of the consultation depends on what you’re looking to accomplish.

Upon calling the office, the paralegal can usually determine whether we can help you and that you will receive the benefit of attending the consultation.

A: I went to law school because I was interested about how all aspects of the legal system work and how people use the law intelligently for their benefit.

My passion started from my early success in my property law classes and then my estate and trust classes. I then learned after two years of law practice, that I love working directly with clients and explaining legal concepts to them.

After law school, I worked at a litigation firm. The experience was great for two reasons: 1) I discovered that my strength in practicing law is in educating and counseling clients thorough complex legal issues; and 2) I am not passionate about arguing or beating up people in court.

One client in particular taught me that I loved working with seniors. I feel like my values are actually similar to an older generation. My grandfather was my best man at my wedding. I feel a good connection working with people over 60 or those taking care of people over 60. It is my passion to help this group.

A: I could start off by saying that I care so much about my clients, but that is way too cliché. My actions, how I structure my business, and transparency should show I care. Maybe you can tell I am different by reading this biography. You can probably search reviews and it could give you a good idea I how treat others and how I want the team to treat clients. I have made use that I have hired great people who understand good client service and how to effectively accomplish valuable results for clients.

I am passionate about getting defined results that hopefully match the plan developed during a consultation. I want to see that my clients get treated with care in dignity in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. I love what I do, and I want it to show in our results when working with us.

I tend to get results, which should be evident by the growing office staff and good word of mouth. I only practice elder law – so I am not distracted by court appearances that could tie me down for days in subject matters that are irrelevant to caregivers. We see 20+ new clients a month who are caregivers or are 70+ years old.

A: This is an internal pain point I have. On one hand I want to help everyone who needs it and give everyone who calls answers to their burning questions; on the other hand we get many new prospective client inquiries each week and there is only so much time in a week. I am part of the problem because I cannot leave clients with unanswered questions after the consultation, nor can I leave clients feeling like they did not receive value for the time spent. So, I spend a lot of time with new clients to learn their unique situations and needs, to teach important principles to empower them in their planning, and to give specific recommendations. Most free consultations in this area of law have to be a sales pitch delivered in under an hour, or else that attorney would not be able to meet his or her personal financial goals. The personal injury attorneys can advertise free consultations because they can potentially and routinely recover $100,000 – $1 million in some cases – elder law attorneys in Florida rarely can collect $20,000+ in a given case.

I cannot avoid my approach to consultations and I could personally be in free consultations all day, every day without progressing any paid client work. Yes, because I do paid consultations there will be some folks scared away, but I hope I am clear that I try to deliver value and give answers to all your questions and specific recommendations.

A: Each type of caregiver situation we face as a different process. The general process works like this: you call and can set an appointment with an attorney. My paralegals can answer basic questions, but cannot (ethically) give advice about what to do. We start with the paid attorney consultation. At the end of that consultation, you will have a specific plan and a quote for legal fees to implement that plan. An attorney will lay out a process to complete the plan that you choose to follow.

A: If I think I am too busy for you, you will know before we set an initial consultation. On a rare occasion we have referred clients to our competitors because our schedules are busy. Our trained paralegals will discuss relevant deadlines and I will schedule initial consultations and follow-up appointments with the expectation that you will hire us and we will meet your necessary goals. Go ahead and call us and we usually figure out a way to make things work for everyone. We have many team members in place to help clients timely meet their goals.

A: You have a couple of choices:

• You can call and ask for one of our educational reports. We have a lot of comprehensive written materials not found on this website that are available to further educate you about your needs.
• You can schedule an initial appointment by calling (904) 398-6100. You may inquire about initial appointment and other fees when you call. Be ready to give us contact information about you and/or the person you are calling about.