Questions most frequently asked by new clients about retaining the services of the Law Office
of Susan E. Rizos:
What are the office hours and do you offer evening and weekend appointments?
In general, office hours are Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Appointments are offered several days each
week up to 7:00 p.m. and usually one Saturday per month. During tax season, January to April, hours are available
almost every Saturday and some evenings until 9:00 p.m.
Why and when do you charge a consultation fee
and how much is it?
A consultation fee is charged for the initial meeting with the attorney.
In order for you to obtain truly valuable information at a legal consultation, the Law Office of Susan E. Rizos
provides a full fourty five minute initial meeting with attorney Rizos. During this time, you are free to ask all
of your questions and the attorney will collect the facts of your case and outline available options as well as expected fees
and costs associated with any representation. Often, depending on the particular situation, the consultation time is
extended at no additional charge. Those persons who retain the office to represent them within two weeks of the
initial meeting, pay the consultation fee, however, it is applied toward their total legal fee and not an additional cost.
The attorney's main priority is making sure that her clients receive the time and attention they deserve.
In order to ensure that the attorney's time is devoted to working on current clients' cases at all possible
times, a fee is charged for a consultation to avoid the attorney spending time on matters and with those individuals
not really seeking to hire an attorney.
The consultation fee is very reasonable, $25.00
for bankruptcy and related matters and $75.00 for all other matters including Divorce, Immigration, Civil Litigation, etc.
When hiring the firm for representation with the sale or purchase of a house, cooperative apartment or condominium,
there is no fee for the initial meeting since preliminary information can be exchanged by fax or phone.
What types of cases are taken on a flat fee basis and what types are taken on a retainer fee basis - and what's
the difference?
Most Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies, straight uncontested divorces, immigration
matters and real estate closings are handled on a flat fee basis. This means that you pay one set fee for
all legal work on the case in addition to any costs such as Court filing fees, etc. Payment plans are available and
this fee arrangement allows a client to know in advance what their total legal fees (barring any unusual circumstances
which arise during the course of the case) will be so that they are not surprised in the midst of the case when it is
too late to turn back.
Contested divorce cases and litigation matters are routinely handled on a retainer
fee basis. This means that all legal work is billed on at an hourly rate since it is impossible to determine at
the outset the amount of time and extent of work which will be necessary to spend to complete the case. Hourly rates
range from $175.00 to $250.00 per hour depending on the type and complexity of the case. At the outset of the representation,
the client would be responsible to provide a lump sum initial retainer, which would represent the first ten or twenty
hours of legal representation in order for the attorney to commence work. Then, throughout the case, the client is billed
and when the initial retainer is depleted, the client would be responsible to pay all bills as they
become due. In these situations, attorney Rizos makes every effort to give clients as accurate an estimate as possible
from the beginning of the reprsentation to avoid unnecessary surprise and complications at the height of litigation.
In all instances, i.e. flat fees or hourly billing, the client will be given a written fee agreement when the firm
is hired.
What is the attorney's call back policy - will I speak to the attorney personally
every time I call the office about my case?
All legal work is performed by Susan E. Rizos, Esq.
However, in order to give each client competent representation, she simply cannot take each
and every call that comes in every day. To this end, for matters including scheduling appointments, checking
on Court dates and times, status inquiries, payment inquiries, updating client information and the relay of general information
back and forth, a legal assistant will take your call and respond to your question. If the legal assistant is
not able to answer your question at the time you call, he or she will speak with attorney Rizos to obtain the appropriate
response and get back to you promptly with the information.
When issues involving legal strategy
and case progress arise, the attorney will contact the client personally to discuss same.
Legal assistants
are also used to keep hourly clients' fees down and to keep flat fees competitive.
The office
asks all clients to realize that when the attorney is working on his or her case, they would not want her to be interrupted and
not be able to focus her full attention on their matter in the same way that every other client wants the same personal
attention to their important legal matter.