Law Office of Linda C. Garrett

I have never spoken with this individual. He has no connection to my office. I am replying to this Google review, however, because he brings up a very important issue that sometimes comes in my office: People who wish a "free consultation" with a family-law attorney--and believe it should be free. That reason I and most family-law attorneys charge for our time for an initial one-hour consultation is for several reasons. For instance, the minute a person tells us any details about their case, literally, we are AUTOMATICALLY disqualified from being hired by the other party--even if we never speak to this individual again, e.g. "Ms. Garrett, my spouse is a narcissist and I am afraid and I need help.") The law automatically interprets it as an attorney having a "confidential communication" (thus the reason for the auto disqualification) Second, a very large percentage (about 80% in my office) claim they "need an attorney", but in reality, they just want to talk about their case and receive free advice about their case. (And yes, even when asking a "general question" (such as which forms do I need to fill out for my case = "legal advice.") Third, sometimes someone will call every attorney in the area solely to disqualify them--so that their partner can't hire any attorney in the area. In a fourth instance, which is extremely common in my practice, the person is solely seeking "coaching" type services-which starts with the first paid appointment. (They do not want to hire me--they just want me to help them help themselves as a self-represented party, e.g. review legal documents, ghost-write documents, etc.) And in a fifth instance, they are taking an hour of my time. I am a solo family-law attorney. If you do the math, one to three one-hour "free consults" a day takes away a significant chunk of my time on a daily basis. Remember--most calls are mainly seeking "free advice" even if they say they are looking for attorney representation. The rate I charge is based on over 24 years of exclusive family-law experience. So, if someone wants an hour of my time, wants advice (even "general advice") and causes me to be disqualified due to a conflict of interest created by the confidential consult, I charge for my time. (In comparison, attorneys such as criminal attorneys, or personal injury attorneys don't have these issues that we due because there is never a conflict, e.g., they either always represent the State of California (criminal cases) or the plaintiff--this is why they are able to provide free consultations. In comparison, family-law lawyers many times get calls from BOTH parties seeking some legal assistance or "advice".) In sum, we are not here to "take advantage of people". We are here to help. A review of my other reviews will reflect that I really do care about my clients. I hope this reviewer can now consider that there is another perspective as to why a family-law attorney charges for their time on an initial one-hour consultation.

Thanks for sharing your positive experience with us, Christopher. We look forward to continuing to assist you!

Danielle, we greatly appreciate your positive feedback. Thank you for your kind words!

Thank you for sharing your experience and recommendation, Shay.

Ken, thank you so much for the kind words and sharing your positive experience. It was a pleasure working with you.

Thank you so much!!!