I look forward to speaking with you during your upcoming phone conference. Check your email for a copy of these appointment instructions as well as a calendar invite with further appointment details.

When it is time for your appointment, please call (267) 930-4000. This is my conference line. When prompted, enter the following access code: 773 943 426#.

If you need to reach me by phone in advance of the conference, or if you are having trouble joining the conference, my regular office phone number is (561) 247-2250. You can also reach me via email to daniel@ternerelderlaw.com.

The $375 consultation fee will be applied in full toward any work you may retain the firm to conduct at the conclusion of the consultation. The consultation fee is not due until day of our phone conference but can be paid in advance using LawPay by clicking the button immediately below, if you did not already remit the consultation fee when scheduling your appointment. LawPay is a secure way to pay for services online using a bank account or major credit card. I do ask that you please remit payment prior to the start of our conversation so that we need not occupy any portion of your scheduled appointment time with housekeeping.

During our call, I will listen to you to gain an understanding of all that is going on and to appreciate your needs and concerns. As we speak, I will organize the issues you present, explain solutions, and perhaps lay out the beginnings of a plan if you move forward and retain me at the conclusion of the call.

The only essential ingredient for this appointment is you. However, some of my clients find it helpful or necessary to have other family or friends participate. I welcome this. If you choose to have others attend then please let me know beforehand, if possible. Just beware that having others participate could impact whether the information you share is considered subject to the attorney-client privilege. If others attend your appointment, the privilege may be considered waived. That doesn’t mean that I’ll be sharing your information with others (I still have an ethical duty to maintain confidentiality), but it does have a bearing on whether and how easy it might be for other third-parties to glean information about the meeting in the event of some later court case. 

It may be necessary for you to make decisions during our call. If there are other people whose input you require to decide, please plan to have them join the call. It would not be productive for you to have a consultation without them and then later try to convey the information you learned when I could have done that for you, first-hand, during the initial consultation. If you have the consultation on your own and at its conclusion ask me to repeat it for a non-participant, it would be my pleasure to do so but a second consultation fee would apply.

If multiple people attend the consultation and we are to discuss estate planning, then I suggest this part of the conversation include just the person for whom the estate planning would be done and myself, but not other family members or consultation participants. I say this not only because there may be things that the testator may want to say in confidence, but also to help the family better guard against later claims by others that the testator was unduly influenced in their decision-making.

I have created a list of items for you to gather and have available when we speak. You can access this list here:

Even though all we really need is you, please attend to this list before the appointment. All items on the list are important, but completing the Initial Intake Questionnaire is the single most important thing to do prior to the start of our conversation.

The information requested by the Initial Intake Questionnaire is necessary so I can perform a conflict check before your appointment, to make sure that we can speak with each other. If you have estranged family members, it is especially important to list them when asked. I will not be contacting or communicating with the people you list, nor does your listing them authorize me to do so. If you do not complete the intake questionnaire before our meeting, then it may be necessary to postpone the consultation until you can.

Providing the information requested by the Questionnaire in advance will allow me to tailor your consultation to your circumstances. It will also eliminate having to devote a portion of your consultation time to the collection of contact information, leaving more time for substantive conversation.

My Firm maintains very strict confidentiality policies. Your information is private and will never be shared with any other party outside of the Firm and its encrypted storage service providers unless you explicitly request otherwise or as required by law. You should share with me everything that is possibly relevant to the representation and do so without concern that your information will get out. That is why the law affords law firms and their clients the highest level of confidentiality known to the law.

I recognize that money is important and that fees must be fair and reasonable. I cannot quote fees without first diagnosing what needs to be done. This “diagnosis” takes place during the consultation. You will likely be very pleased, even surprised, by the value I bring to my clients. That my fees are not a problem to people is evidenced by the fact that it is rare for a client not to retain the firm during the first meeting. I have worked hard for my reputation in the community and part of that success comes from exceeding my clients’ expectations.

Initial meetings often take about an hour or two, though we will not be “on the clock.” While there are rare exceptions when things can happen more quickly, it usually takes that long for me to understand all that is relevant and to then share with you ideas, advice and suggestions as to how a solution can be put together. Often, my clients go beyond an initial consultation and begin work at the meeting. In such cases, the meeting can take considerably longer than two hours. You should schedule no other appointments later in the day following our meeting, if possible.

I look forward to speaking with you soon.