GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
Most people calling a family lawyer want to know two things nobody tells them: what is actually going to happen, and what it is going to cost. Here is as much of both as can honestly be said before anyone knows the specifics of your case.
The majority of family cases resolve by agreement, and negotiating well is a real part of the work. But agreements get made in the shadow of what would happen at a hearing, and a lawyer who is not prepared to go there negotiates from a weaker position. The firm is organized around motion practice, hearings, and trial preparation.
This is a small firm by design. The lawyer you meet at the consultation is the lawyer who handles your case.
The firm does not offer neutral mediation. If your case goes to court-sponsored mediation or another dispute resolution process — and many do — the role here is to represent and advise you through it, not to serve as the neutral.
Family matters are generally handled hourly, with an advance retainer. You deposit funds against which time is billed, you receive statements showing the work performed, and the retainer is replenished as it is used. Family cases vary too widely in how much work they require for a fixed price to be fair to either side — a flat fee either overcharges the straightforward case or underfunds the difficult one.
Criminal matters arising from domestic or family violence may be handled on a flat fee. The scope of a criminal case is more predictable, which makes a defined fee workable.
Specific rates and retainer amounts are discussed at the consultation, before you are asked to commit to anything.
Most of what a family case costs is determined by how much of it is contested, and that is substantially within the parties’ control.
The expensive items are the ones requiring outside professionals — business valuations, real estate appraisals, custody evaluations — and discovery fights over documents that were going to be produced eventually anyway. A case where both sides exchange financial information and negotiate costs a fraction of one that goes to trial on contested financial orders.
The firm will tell you when a fight is not worth what it will cost. That conversation is part of the representation.
A consultation covers what you are facing, the likely path, and what representation would involve. If the firm is not the right fit, or the matter is outside its scope, you will be told that at the consultation rather than after a retainer is paid.
Before any representation begins, the firm runs a conflict check and the engagement is set out in a written agreement.
Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
