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Disclaimer
 

Information

              

Information

I office out of my home in Eden Prairie and meet with clients at the Diamond Center, 11985 Technology Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344. However, one of the advantages of the "virtual" office is being able to meet the client's need for a more convient location for a meeting.  Just let me know of your preferences and I will do my best to accomodate them. The Diamond Center is located on Technology Drive next to Fudruckers restaurant on the north side of Flying Cloud Drive, more or less accross the street from the Eden Prairie Gander Mountain store.

Fees and charges for most legal matters. I will be happy to answer a few general questions on the telephone when you call.  If you want to come into the office and see me, I can offer you my Initial Consultation Appointment.  The Initial Consultation Appointment is 1 hour of my time, scheduled in advance  for ½ my usual hourly rate.  At the current time, my hourly rate is $180.00 so the Initial Consultation Appointment costs $90.00.  At the end of the appointment, you can hire me to represent you, you can go home and think about it, you can call back in 2 weeks or 2 months or 2 years!  In other words, there are no strings attached, other than payment of the $90.00 at the time of the appointment. 

If you do hire me to represent you, I generally charge an upfront retainer that you will be required to pay before I began working on your behalf.  My general retainer is 5 hours of my time, currently $900.00.  However, if you have a court hearing scheduled or anticipate emergency action, the retainer will be increased to reflect the amount of immediate attorney time that will be required.  Likewise, if your needs are only for an hour or two of attorney time, the retainer will naturally be less.

Attorney fees are generally only part of the costs you can expect to pay when you become involved with the legal system.  Any court action will have a filing fee that must be paid to the court system before you can file your action at the courthouse.  Currently the general charge for filing a divorce action is about $330.00.  You may also have to pay fees for service of process if you need to hire a professional to serve your legal papers to the opposing party.  Other expenses include expert witness fees that are fees paid to doctors, counselors or other professionals to testify in court on your behalf or prepare reports.  Sometimes, your case may require depositions, which means you must pay court reporter fees.  All of the fees and charges will be in addition to the attorney fees and you will be responsible for paying them.  I do my best to estimate these fees and discuss them with you in advance so that you will be prepared for the expense involved.

Fees and charges for Wills.  My procedure for wills is different from that for general legal matters since  I have standard prices for standard wills as follows:  Basic will without trust provisions is $150.00; Will with standard support trust for minor children is $275.00; Will with support trust for minor children and martial deduction trust is $375.00.  If you decide you want me to prepare a will for you, we usually set up an office appointment to meet and discuss your needs.  Once we have settled on a particular will, I require 1/2 of the price as a retainer.  I generally prepare a draft of the will and send it to you for your review; when you are satisfied with the will, we set up an appointment for you to come in and sign the will and pay the balance due on the attorney fees.

Fees and Charges for Power of Attorney, Health Care Directive,  Often times a client's need for these documents can be met by using standard forms.  If that is true for you, my prices are $45.00 per form.  If, however, these documents do not meet your need, I will be happy to prepare one that does at my usual hourly rate.   

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