Services and scope

01 The first mandate

Introductory consultation

no charge

A first conversation that establishes what the legal question actually is, which of the remaining five services would answer it, and what that scope would cost. It carries no charge and ends without obligation. Nothing needs to be prepared beforehand and no papers are required; the practice would rather hear the question in plain words and say honestly whether it is one for a law firm at all.

Best for a first approach, including an undecided one.

Included

• A written summary of the question as the practice understands it
• A statement of which of the remaining five services fits, or that none does
• The scope and the fee of that service, in writing

Not included

No document is drafted or reviewed in this conversation, and no view is offered on how a dispute would end.

Timing

About 45 minutes, in the rooms or by telephone.

The five that follow

• 02

  Document review

  $450 flat

  A close read of a contract, lease, employment agreement or similar document against what its holder intends it to do: what it obliges each side to, what it leaves undefined, and where its wording and that intention part company. The review reports in writing and stops there: the decision to sign, to negotiate or to walk away remains entirely with the holder.

  Best for a document already in hand, where the question is what it actually commits its holder to.

  Included

  • A written read of what the document obliges each side to do
  • The clauses that are unclear, missing or unusually one-sided, listed
  • The points where the wording departs from the stated intention

  Not included

  No negotiation is conducted with the other side, and no redrafted document is produced under this scope.

  Timing

  Five to seven business days from the document arriving.

• 03

  Will and estate documents

  from $1,200

  Drafting of a will, financial and health-care powers of attorney and an advance directive, to a scope agreed in the introductory consultation. The work records what the client wants to happen and names the people who would carry it out, and it separates what has been confirmed from what is still assumed. Signing and witnessing are arranged at the practice’s rooms.

  Best for a household putting its affairs in order, whether or not an event has prompted it.

  Included

  • A will drafted to the instructions taken, and read back before signing
  • Financial and health-care powers of attorney, and an advance directive
  • Signing and witnessing arranged, with a copy of every executed document

  Not included

  No tax return is prepared here, and the practice does not act as executor.

  Timing

  Three to four weeks from the instructions being taken.

• 04

  Residential property closing

  $1,850 flat

  Closing work for the purchase or sale of a home: the title examined, the contract and the closing documents reviewed, the settlement figures checked against the contract, and the deed prepared and recorded. The practice works to the dates the contract sets rather than its own, and says early where a date looks unlikely to hold.

  Best for a buyer or a seller with a signed contract and a closing date.

  Included

  • A title examination, with every exception listed in writing
  • Review of the contract, the settlement statement and the closing documents
  • Preparation and recording of the deed, with a copy of the recorded instrument

  Not included

  No mortgage is arranged and no survey is carried out, and the practice does not act for both sides of the same transaction.

  Timing

  Four to six weeks, set by the closing date in the contract.

• 05

  Small business formation

  from $950

  Formation of a limited liability company or a corporation in Georgia: the entity filed, the operating or shareholder agreement drafted to the owners’ instructions, and the registered agent and first filings put in place. The work states plainly which questions belong to an accountant rather than to a law firm, and names them as theirs.

  Best for one or more owners starting a business, or formalising one already trading.

  Included

  • Formation documents filed with the Georgia Secretary of State
  • An operating or shareholder agreement drafted to the owners’ instructions
  • A written list of the filings and the dates the new entity must keep

  Not included

  No tax election is made on the owners’ behalf, and no bookkeeping or accounting work is done here.

  Timing

  Two to three weeks from the instructions being taken.

• 06

  Second-opinion file review

  $600 flat

  A read of legal work or advice received elsewhere, against the purpose its holder states. It reports what the advice does, what it assumes and what it leaves open. It does not grade the attorney who gave it. Where the advice looks sound the review says so plainly, because a second opinion that never agrees with the first is worth nothing to the person paying for it.

  Best for advice already on the table with a decision due.

  Included

  • A written statement of what the advice does
  • The assumptions it rests on
  • What it leaves open, and what a decision would still need

  Not included

  The attorney who gave the advice is not graded, and no outcome is predicted.

  Timing

  One to two weeks from the papers arriving.