Calls, communications, and appointments

Since we are trial and appellate lawyers, a lot of our time is spent in intense activity preparing cases for trial, researching and writing appeal briefs, or in court or driving to and from court or meetings out of town. Lawyers always operate under deadlines imposed by courts to file pleadings and briefs and to be ready for hearings and trials. Therefore, please keep in mind that we am seldom available to take calls without them being screened by our staff. In other words, we do not sit around the office waiting for the telephone to ring, just to take calls, and many calls can be wasteful of our time. When we are concentrating on any case, we do not want to be disturbed. If it was your case we were working on, you would want it that way. My secretary, legal assistant, or another lawyer might take calls from you or return your call to find out what you need. Do not be afraid to talk to them--they are covered by the same rules of confidentiality, and the staff knows much about the cases to help prepare them.

When we are working on your case with that kind of single-mindedness, you will appreciate that we do not take every call when it comes in.

We also try to keep in touch to keep you apprised of what is happening, but it is not always possible to do so immediately. If we have information for you, we will call or write you about it or tell you of changes in court dates. If you change addresses or telephone numbers, it is your obligation to tell us right away so we can get communications to you about your case. If you change your address or telephone number and do not tell us, we cannot get in touch with you about developments in your case or to talk with you about it.

Clients and prospective clients are seen by appointment only. If you are unable to keep an appointment, please call as far in advance as possible.

Cellphone communication is not always secure. I write about this in Search and Seizure § 33.18. We use digital cellphones that are incapable of being captured by current scanner technology to insure confidentiality of calls. When you call us, you should not use a cellphone unless you know it is both highband digital and secure.If we give you our cellphone number and you abuse the number instead of calling the office, you can expect that you will be billed for cellphone calls separate from the fee agreement at a rate of $10 a minute.

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