In my law practice, I am the attorney who will deal personally with your legal matter. When you call, I answer the phone, not some paralegal, secretary, or associate because I’m the one you want to talk to. When something important arises in your case, I let you know immediately. I don’t have a cadre of Junior Associates with lesser credentials and experience doing the majority of the work on your case whose work I’m overseeing and billing you for in addition to my own fees. I’m the lawyer who reads your documents. I’m the lawyer who thinks about your case and devises the best legal strategy for you. I’m the one who makes it happen. I work evenings, weekends, and holidays for my clients. This is how I expedite high quality work for my clients.

When I’m on a case, people know it. In court, I’m at your side. At the negotiation’s table, I’m seated next to you. I’m writing the contracts, I’m drafting the pleadings. And this is what you hire me for, not to pass your case off to others who you don’t know and who you don’t want as your lawyer. You don’t want to be surprised by who’s working on your case and who shows up in court on your behalf because nobody hires a lawyer unless the situation is graven, and that’s no time for surprises or anything but the best. In any serious legal matter, there is no small decision, there is no minor hearing, there is no little letter, there is no insignificant trial, and there is nothing that should be brought to the table but supreme work.

That’s why my clients hire me. I have earned my credentials, client praise, and awards and honors through smart work, full-time morality, and hard-hitting experience. I don’t rest on my laurels, but rather I constantly strive for achievement. I do not abuse my power, and it gives me great pleasure to confront and vanquish those who do regardless of their rank or position.

That is what I feel sets me apart from big box law firms, boutique firms, and solo practitioners alike. I provide an artisanal, determined, erudite, and rigorously moral approach to representing my clients. My work as an attorney is an art form, and knowing that my work affects people’s lives, families, freedoms, and precious assets, I treat it with exceptional seriousness and care. Choose the right attorney: because when times are critical, no decision is more important.

Too often I hear clients say they wish that they had found me earlier, before they had wasted so much money on their prior attorneys who did little for them of real value, ultimately weakened their case, and charged them tens of thousands of dollars or more. I am concerned by the questionable quality of representation provided by the prior attorneys of my clients, be they lawyers from large law firms or small. In reviewing the work performed by my clients’ prior attorneys at other law firms, too often I see problematic pleadings, transcripts that show muted representation at court hearings, boilerplate contracts with significant holes that lead to litigation, missed opportunities, faulty advice, lawyers that don’t return calls, apathetic negotiation skills, and worst of all, inflated attorney invoices with multiple attorneys and their support staff billing the client for redundant tasks and leaving clients financially strapped just when they need money most.

It is hard to find a good attorney. There are so many serious pitfalls. For example, beware of attorneys who offer you incredibly low Flat Fees for supposedly handling “the whole case.” Sometimes, these attorneys will do the bare minimum to handle your matter, and that’s a far cry from doing what is morally necessary to give you the very best shot at victory. Or, when dealing with larger law firms, remember that you may just be paying tens of thousands of dollars for a junior associate with little experience to handle your case. A competent attorney may very likely be able to handle the same work and do a much better job, but for thousands of dollars less than the larger law firms charge.

I find that clients often hire the first attorney that jumps into their laps, often with lofty promises of big gains and low fees, all starting with a free consultation offer. Buyer beware! What do you know about your lawyer? Your case matters – it is likely one of the most serious events in your life. Choose your attorney very carefully, paying special attention to your attorney’s Credentials, Morals, and Value.

Credentials

First, it is essential to peruse the Credentials of the attorney who will actually work on your case. What law school did he graduate from, and is it not only accredited by the ABA but also a top-ranked school? Think law schools like Harvard, Yale, Columbia, UC Law SF, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, NYU, Univ. of Chicago, and Georgetown. What undergraduate university did he attend, and is it also a top-tier ranked college? This matters, because it speaks of a lawyer’s intelligence and motivation. That is crucial and often overlooked. What kinds of academic and professional honors and memberships does this attorney have? Further, what kinds of cases has he worked on? Has he done 30 years of dusty work, or is this lawyer a true litigator, with hard-hitting experience, pizzazz, and fire in his belly? You can find out exactly this kind of information about me because I believe it’s your right to know. Please read all about me on this website, and please peruse my Sample Case History as well.

Morals

An attorney must possess impeccable Morals, because much of what happens in a lawyer’s office happens behind closed doors. Can you trust this attorney to do more than what is minimally required of him by law, especially when it seems that he is never returning your calls and emails? Can you trust that this lawyer will give you “A+” work, and not just the bare minimum so he protects himself from sanctions? Some large law firms have multiple partners and associates working needlessly and redundantly on your case in an effort to “pad the bills.” How can you avoid such a trap? Sometimes, it’s nearly impossible, as many clients simply don’t have the wherewithal to select the right law firm to hire. These are crucial questions that you can answer by looking up a lawyer’s publications, community-oriented past work efforts, associations, memberships, credentials, and politics. I have made sure to provide answers and easy links to all these questions on my website, and I encourage you to read about me so you understand my character and motivations. Make sure to look at my Articles as well as my Attorney Profile.

Value

Finally, what kind of Value is your attorney giving you? What is his hourly rate, not just his retainer – because remember, when an attorney receives a retainer fee from you, it is placed in an account that he will draw from for all his hours of work on your case, and for each hour he will charge you his hourly rate. Many clients forget this fact. Value is a matter of what you’re getting for your money’s worth. Is your attorney handling your case like some petty poker chip on a gambling table when discussing the facts in a backroom discussion with the judge or opposing counsel? Or is your attorney getting serious, staying on top of your case with a pitbull’s tenacity and a sage’s diplomacy?

When you’re choosing an attorney, remember all this advice, look hard, demand answers, and don’t forget to turn aside the curtain so you can see what’s really going on backstage. This way, you can find the right attorney for you!

I welcome you to set-up an Initial Consultation with me. I will discuss your case, give you some straight talk about your case instead of false and lofty promises, and discuss a possible legal strategy that will seek to optimize your case’s strengths and work through its weaknesses. I focus on giving you the most aggressive and creative legal representation available, working hard to perform all the necessary tasks to help maximize your chances of success, while seeking to keep costs and fees affordable.