Consultations

What a Potential Client Gets in the Consultation Meeting

The goal of a Consultation Meeting is for the potential client to leave with a game plan and knowledge about how our legal process works. We intend to educate the potential client on the law that governs the particular case and how the law applies to the case. The potential client has the opportunity to ask questions, ask for advice, and get things off his or her chest. Our aim is to give each potential client a strategy for moving forward through the crisis, from beginning to end.

Intake Interview

The first step in the consultation process is to contact our office for a telephone Intake interview. The Intake Interview call usually takes 15 to 30 minutes, and there is no cost. Potential clients can simply call the office to complete the Intake Interview by phone, or they can contact us through the Contact Us page on this website. If the website contact page is used, we will communicate with a potential client through email to set up the Intake Interview telephone call.

During the Intake Interview telephone call, we will collect basic information about the people involved in a case to make sure we don’t have a conflict of interest. If there is no conflict, one of our team members will ask some specific questions about the parties and the case. The parties are the people that are directly involved in the case, the Plaintiff and the Defendant. We will also ask about other people who are involved, such as children, grandparents or other adults. We will ask financial questions that are important for understanding virtually all cases we handle. We ask about the reason a potential client is calling, as well as whether there is currently a case pending. At the end of the Intake Interview, we will set up a Consultation Meeting for a time that is convenient for the potential client and our attorneys.

The Intake Interview is conducted by an employee of McNinch Law Firm, PLLC from our office in Brandon, Mississippi. You will not be routed to a call center. You will talk directly to a member of our team.

Generally, no legal advice is given during the Intake Interview.

Telephone representatives at McNinch Law Firm, PLLC are not allowed to quote prices for cases during the Intake Interview call. Experience has shown us there is no way to quote prices for cases during short telephone calls. More detail is needed to provide an estimate of fees and expenses. The potential price of a case is discussed in the Consultation Meeting. More information on pricing can be found on the Pricing page of this website.

Consultation Meeting

The Consultation Meeting is usually held at our office in Brandon, Mississippi, but we work with many people who can’t come in for office meetings, so we frequently have consultations by Skype or by phone. We can also meet with potential clients at other locations in the Jackson, Mississippi area to make the meeting as convenient as possible. Out-of-town meetings can be scheduled by special arrangement.

The Consultation Meeting usually lasts for about an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Both of our attorneys usually meet with potential clients together, since we work on cases as a team. During this meeting, we will ask dozens of questions about finances, family relationships, and other important topics, depending on the kind of case the potential client has. Most importantly, the potential client tells us what is going on and why they need help.

Many of our questions will be very personal. It’s not because our attorneys are nosy. It’s because most family law cases are extremely personal. Potential clients should be prepared to discuss literally any aspect of their lives that is related to the case. Even parts of their past that may not seem relevant could be relevant.

Honesty is very important in the Consultation Meeting. The worst thing a potential client can do is to intentionally misrepresent or withhold significant facts. A person’s attorney certainly can’t help deal with an issue if important information is withheld. In other words, potential clients should be prepared to be very open during the meeting. Not to worry, though; over the years, we’ve pretty much heard it all.

The costs and expenses of a case are estimated during the Consultation Meeting. More information on fees and expenses can be viewed on the Pricing page of this website.