You have been sued, or have a situation where it looks as if you have no choice but to sue. You wanted to hire an attorney to handle the case, and even arranged a consultation with a knowledgeable attorney. However, after the consultation, you have concluded that you just cannot afford to pay an attorney to handle the case. So, you’ve decided to represent yourself, but you know that you still help. This is where we come in.
Generally, the idea behind this service is that you do most of the work, and you are responsible for the case in court. You come to us only for those things that you can’t do alone, or you don’t want to do. How much this help will cost depends on the case, but to a much larger extend it depends on what you want. Maybe all you want is an honest assessment early in the case, or even before it is filed. Such an assessment might cost only a few hundred dollars, maybe as little as $225. On the other hand, maybe you want us to prepare all kinds of complex documents for you. That kind of help might not be cheap, but it will still be a lot cheaper than hiring an attorney to handle all of the details of the case.
Together, we work out how you will be charged and how much our charges will be. We might charge an hourly rate, or a flat fee for each item of help provided.
Sorry, we can provide this service only to individuals. Except for small claims matters, corporations are generally required to hire attorneys to handle their litigation matters. Individuals must be either residents of the State of New York, or out of state residents seeking help on matters pending or about to be brought in forums in New York.
Services provided:
Substantive advise: We can help you in understanding what the law provides, that is, the extent of your rights and your potential risks. This type of information will tell you what you need to prove to establish your claim, or to defend a claim against you.
Procedural advise: We can give you instructions on how to get something accomplished, anything from how to start a lawsuit to how to offer a document into evidence at trial. We can even tell you where the courthouse or a particular judge is located.
Legal research: The truth is that even the most experienced, knowledgeable attorney does not know everything there is to know in even a chosen area of practice. Even attorneys often have to hit the books to figure out the issues. We have access to the laws of all 50 states, plus federal law. Whatever the issue, we have the tools to get answers.
Document Preparation: Even though, in some courts, electronic documents have largely replaced paper documents, the litigation process and the courts still require litigants to prepare all kinds of documents. We can help in preparing those documents. We might supply you samples for you to modify and tailor to your case. Or, we might write the document for you. We can review and edit your work.
Court appearances and depositions, even as a “second seat” or in an advisory role, are not among the services we can provide in this program, because providing such a service may constitute an “appearance” for all purposes, and result in the shifting of responsibility for the case in court to us. At that point, it might be hard for us to shift responsibility back to you, and, in some cases, it might be impossible.
On another page, we provide more specific information on charges..