Remember…
The 10 minute interview is not designed to give legal advice. 10 minutes are designed to talk about the legal process, and if you read about this, we can go right into your specific questions related to the process.
So these type of questions are designed for 10 minutes, not legal advice or an interview
What is your hourly rate?
You can find my hourly rate when you book an appointment for 10 minutes. There's another option to book for an hour, and that will be my current hourly rate. My rate applies for everything. It applies for court appearances, depositions, representation, etc. My minimum billable is 0.2, which is 12 minute tact and includes emailing. Sometimes clients wonder if emails are included in my time, anything and everything that takes my brain and my timecosts money.
What is your retainer?
The retainer amount depends on the situation. Sometimes it's $12,000 if I'm in the middle of going into the case and need to represent you in trial and have to prepare and need time to catch up. However, typically, the retainer is $5,000 to start a case.
What is your turnaround time?
The typical turnaround time, depending on the complexity of the project is between one to two weeks. For example, if you have a prenuptial agreement or a marital settlement agreement that is pretty simple and can be finished in a week. If the process becomes more complex and many other edits are required and we go back and forth, it might take a couple of weeks. My response rate to emails and phone calls vary, but I try to respond as quickly as possible. Typically I respond to emails every day from 3PM to 4PM, unless I'm in trial. I would like to set this time so that my clients are expecting an email somewhere in between those times so that I can focus on other projects, interviews, and court appearances during the day.
Are you available for that particular court date when I have a hearing?
When should I expect invoices?
In a typical scenario where invoices come every month, I actually like to send invoices every Monday. This is because I personally was in a situation where I hired a lawyer and received the invoice and it made me uncomfortable to be billed for something that happened two weeks ago when I couldn't even remember. I find that billing every Monday is more helpful so that the client and I can see what happened last Monday. This way its easier to remember and transparency is key.
What areas of law I am practicing?
I practice child custody, child support, property division, spousal support, prenuptial agreement, postnuptial agreement, and visitation. My practicing areas are also on my website. Although adoption and guardianship are included inp family law, it’s not something I ractice or focus on.
Do I practice in all Bay Area counties?
Yes. I practice in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin, San Francisco. Sometimes people ask if I could represent them outside of those counties. It depends. Now during COVID times, everything is via zoom so my driving is not added to the bill. On occassion I take some cases on an exceptional basis in other counties, for example, in Monterey, or Santa Cruz.
How long does the divorce process take on average?
Lastly, this question always comes up. So to answer this question efficiently I figured out a formula based on the average of my clients’ timeline to calculate how long each divorce may approximately take. The average is about nine months. Of course each case is different and the timeline for the divorce could be shorter or longer. The six months and one day rule also has nothing to do with it. The 9 month average is calculated from the day you filed until the divorce is submitted and final Your divorce could take longer if you have children involved, lots of properties, or if you're not in agreement in court appearances that are required, especially in COVID times where courts set hearing dates far in advance.
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