Consults – Intro
I do offer brief free initial consults on all seven days. These consults are now limited to 15 minutes. At that point, I will understand your issues (I have been practicing this area of law for 3 decades), and I will understand how to advise you.
However, I do not work for free and do not give out free legal advice. I will now require a one-hour $450.00 retainer to continue.
Consults – You Get What You Pay For
I believe that every prospective client deserves an in-depth consultation personalized to his or her particular circumstances.
Unfortunately, offering consultations at no charge would result in such a volume of inquiries that I couldn’t devote the necessary time and attention to either prospective or current clients.
Consults – Fee
The old adage is true in this case: you really do get what you pay for.
If you’re looking for a lawyer, chances are you have an urgent legal issue about which you have questions.
A lawyer offering a free consultation is not going to give you the answers or advice you really need.
In most cases, a free consultation is meant to be informational: to tell you about your situation in general, not to give you specific advice about your case.
Doing so puts me at the risk by potentially creating an attorney-client relationship, and it offers me no benefit or protection. So the likelihood is that a free consultation will end in frustration and wasted time for you.
The attorney has not had the time to get to know you or all the particulars of your circumstances.
This free advice could steer you very wrong and lead to legal outcomes that may take thousands of dollars and many years to reverse—if they are reversible at all.
In these circumstances, I do not have the luxury of time to sit through consultations that don’t address your urgent legal needs.
Free consultations are a way for attorneys to get potential clients in the door to sell their services. But they are often a waste of time for prospective clients, who don’t get the advice they are seeking, and for attorneys, who may devote hours to free consultations before bringing in a paying client.
If time were unlimited, that might not be an issue. But, of course it is, which means that if an attorney is spending a lot of time giving free consultations, the clients who have already retained him or her might be getting short shrift. Imagine yourself, not in the position of someone who might get a free consultation, but as someone already paying an attorney. Do you want your lawyer to spend time drumming up business from someone else, or working on your case?
I am committed to conserving my clients’ time and resources and to protecting their interests.
I am willing to forgo the clients we might be able to retain by offering free consultations in favor of being able to offer customized, timely, trustworthy service to the clients we already have.
We offer an initial consultation at a reduced fee to allow prospective clients to get guidance that is meaningful to them at a fair rate and to have a chance to decide, at minimal risk, whether we are the right fit for each other.
Charging a reasonable fee for an initial consultation allows me my experience, accolades, and client reviews on the issues of clients who need and value my experience, rather than diverting that attention to individuals seeking free legal advice.
John B Whalen Jr Esq
John B. Whalen, Jr., JD., LL.M., is an AV Peer Review Rated Preeminent 5.0 and Avvo Rated 10.0 Superb (obtaining over 95 client reviews and peer endorsements) premier and prestigious Attorney and Counselor at Law.
He has amassed over 60 prestigious professional awards and over 5000 client reviews and endorsements.
Mr. Whalen concenntrates his three decade career in the legal areas of Pa Probate, Pa Last Wills, Pa Estates, and Pa Estate Settlement.
Mr. Whalen provides brief free initial consults all seven days, requires a one hour ($450.00) consult fee paid in advance for client meetings, and provides home visits and flat fees.
He is located at 1199 Heyward Road Wayne Pa 19087. Mr. Whalen serves all surrounding counties, all days, from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and on evenings, weekends, and holidays.
He can be reached by email at jw60297@me.com, and by telephone at 1-610-407-0220.