Frequently Asked Questions

How can I be sure that you are the right attorney for me?

There may not be a “right” or “best” lawyer for you, but the attorneys at Freedom Legal want to be certain that we will provide the best possible service.  For this reason, we have a multi-tiered approach to taking cases.  When you first contact us, we offer a free 15-minute telephone consultation to answer questions and get an overview of your case.  Often, this consultation helps determine whether the case is worth pursuing for you.  After that, Freedom Legal offers a reduced-cost planning meeting to develop strategy for your case.  This meeting lasts up to one hour and lets you know what services we will provide you before you commit to pay our full rates.

How can I get the most out of my telephone consultation? How should I prepare for my planning meeting?

Before your free telephone consultation, write down a few specific questions for your attorney to answer.  Summarize what compels you to call an attorney.  If you can explain the situation in a few minutes, your attorney has more time to analyze and discuss the problem with you.

To prepare for your planning meeting, gather all of the information you have about your legal problem.  The more information you provide your attorney, the more your attorney can help you.  If someone is suing you, bring all the paperwork they sent you along with any other information you have about the situation.  If you or someone you know is accused of a crime, bring all the police and court information you have on the case.  If someone has done something wrong, bring documentation of what they did and who it harmed.  If you are trying to make financial plans for the future, bring bank account information, life insurance policies, and summaries of any investments you may have.

How is your fee set?

We determine a fee and payment plan based on your situation.  Depending on the nature of your case, we can do hourly work, get a pre-paid flat fee, have ongoing monthly payments, take a contingency depending on the case’s outcome, or a combination of these approaches.

It’s expensive to hire an attorney.  What can I do to keep costs low?

The best way to reduce costs is effective communication.  If your attorney sends you information, review it carefully. When attorneys call a client several times to get the answer to an important question, it makes the client’s case take longer to resolve. Respond quickly when they need information from you.  Also, many questions can be answered by examining what the attorney has already given you.

If you have questions, don’t call your attorney right away; write the questions down and ask several together. That way, the attorney can use time more efficiently for you. Another way to simplify communication is to send the attorney an e-mail. You can also ask more questions at once, letting the attorney answer them all for you at the same time. They can usually answer more thoroughly and accurately, too.

By using these techniques, you get better legal representation for what you pay, and your attorney can give you better legal service at the same price.

What are some other places I can go for help?

Several resources are available to members of the public with legal problems.  Some of the best include:

The Utah Bar Association http://utahbar.org/  can help you find legal help throughout the state.  The attorneys at Freedom Legal belong to the Utah State Bar.

The Utah State Courts website http://utcourts.gov can give you information about court hearings and things you should know about preparing for a court case.  It also provides an excellent list of legal clinics throughout the state http://www.utcourts.gov/howto/legalclinics/.

Utah Legal Services http://utahlegalservices.org/, the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake http://www.legalaidsocietyofsaltlake.org/, and the Disability Law Center http://www.disabilitylawcenter.org/ provide low-cost legal help in a variety of areas.