Legal Fees

I have been practicing law since 1976 and having interviewed thousands of clients I realize that 99% of new clients have no idea what to expect when it comes to legal fees. Many are absolutely afraid to discuss the subject. What I would like to do for you is to try to eliminate the mystery and fear regarding this issue.

The first and most important thing to remember is that paying for a lawyer's services is just like paying for everything else in your life. You get what you pay for. You can't expect to pay a respected lawyer who has over thirty years of trial court experience the same amount of money that you would pay a kid just out of law school. It's like walking into a Ferrari dealership and trying to buy one for the same amount of money that you would pay for a Volkswagen. It's not happening, no way no how. There are exceptions but we'll get to those in a minute.

The second thing to remember is that you should never make a decision as to whether or not to hire a lawyer without first meeting him or her. It's a major mistake.

I cringe when I get the phone call that goes like this: "Mr DeMarco, how much do you charge for a Robbery Case?" I'll be honest with you, I never answer that question. It is exactly the same as calling a doctor and asking him to diagnose the pain that you've had in your right side for over a week. The Doctor can't and won't give you an opinion without first conducting a comprehensive physical examination.

It's exactly the same with lawyers. A good lawyer will always insist on meeting you and discussing your case in detail before quoting a legal fee. Furthermore, would you agree to hire a lawyer if you never met the person?

So let me tell you what we do. First and foremost, we never charge you for an Initial Consultation and we don't make you wait forever to get an appointment. We try to schedule all appointments within 24 hrs of your call or even the same day if possible.

We will sit down with you first so that we can get to know each other. Then we will take all the time that is necessary to listen, yes I said listen to your situation. After that we will give you the benefit of out many years of legal experience. Then and only then will we quote a fee.

This fee will be based upon the seriousness and complexity of your case and upon the experience of the lawyer in our firm who you intend to hire. Now comes the good part: We always take into consideration your ability to pay. That's right we don't like to turn people away. We haven't stayed in business for over thirty years by turning people away. So if you're fair and reasonable with us we do the same for you. In fact we will bend over backwards to try to make it happen if at all possible.

One last point once we reach an agreement we put it in writing so that there is no misunderstanding between us. So then if you need a lawyer call us. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain. Our purpose in life is to help you and we will do our level best to do so.