When researching lawyers, you may have been bombarded with advertising for “affordable” lawyers who require very little money to start on your case. There is a definite market for low-cost legal services, but you should be prepared for an unfortunate reality: you’ll get what you pay for.
When you’re considering hiring an attorney, you should consider asking some important questions:
- Does the attorney have a Martindale-Hubbell rating?
- Is the attorney rated “A/V Preeminent” (the highest)?
- Is the attorney certified by the Florida Bar as an expert in criminal trial law?
- Does the attorney have experience both prosecuting and defending major cases?
- Has the attorney ever served the public as a hearing officer or judge?
- Does the attorney’s fee include taking the case to trial?
- Has the attorney served in a leadership capacity within a Florida Bar committee?
Our trial attorneys can collectively answer “yes” to each of those questions. Your typical high-volume, low-cost lawyer probably could not answer the same way.
For family cases, like most firms, we charge a hourly rate. At the outset of the case, we will require a down payment, or “retainer,” based upon the amount of work we anticipate your case will require in the beginning. We then send an invoice every two weeks, for work performed once the retainer has been exhausted.
We charge a flat rate for criminal cases. The fee is determined during our initial meeting, based upon the unique facts and circumstances of each case.