100 Mills Avenue
Greenville, SC 29605
Phone: 864-232-6247
FAQs
How much does it cost?
We understand that the first question on many people's mind when contemplating hiring an attorney is "what will it cost me?" Our fees are structured to the particulars of each client's case. It is often difficult to determine at the outset of a case how much the case will cost, as there are numerous factors that can, and often do, come into play. We have however listed some general guidelines below:
Family Court Cases: We charge an initial consultation fee for all family court cases. We generally do not like giving advice over the phone or Internet due to the complexity of the legal issues in family court cases. Our clients are much better served by meeting with us, face-to-face, so that we can have plenty of time to fully understand the unique problems you are facing and give you our best advice. Once the consultation is completed and we have had a chance to assess the complexity of the issues that are unique to your case and the estimated amount of work we must devote to your case should you decide to retain our firm, we will quote you a retainer fee. When we quote an initial retainer we hope that it will cover all of the costs in a case. Although, if a case becomes heavily contested or the issues more complex than initially apparent, the retainer may be used up prior to the case being resolved. The retainer fee is required before our firm performs any work on your behalf. Our retainer fees for family court cases generally range from $1,000.00 for an uncontested matter with minimal work involved to $5,000.00 or more for contested cases with multiple complex issues such as child custody and property division of a large marital estate. Once your retainer is paid, we work against your retainer at an hourly rate. If we use the entire retainer before your case is complete, you will either be required to deposit an additional retainer with our firm, or we will bill you on a monthly basis for the work performed by us.
Additional costs may be incurred if we need to hire experts to determine financial or child custody issues.
Mediation: We charge an initial fee of $100.00 for mediation preparation, which includes the scheduling of the mediation as well as the review of any documents. After that, we charge $175.00 per hour and the parties usually divide the cost equally.
Criminal Cases: There is no initial consultation fee for criminal defense cases. Due to the complexity of the legal issues involved in criminal law matters, we prefer to meet with clients face-to-face in our office (or at a location convenient to you) rather than giving advice over the telephone or Internet. Once the attorney has had a chance to speak with you and assess the complexity of your case, the attorney will either quote you either a flat fee or a retainer fee to handle your case. If a flat fee is quoted, that is all you will pay for representation. If a retainer fee is quoted, then the attorney will work against that fee at an hourly rate. A Retainer fee is quoted with the expectation that it will cover the entire cost of the case. However, if unexpected complications arise, the retainer may be used up before the case is resolved. If we use the entire retainer before your case is complete, you will either be required to deposit an additional retainer with our firm, or we will bill you on a monthly basis for the work performed by us that month. The flat fee or retainer fee is required prior to the attorney performing any work on your case. Payment plans are available in some criminal defense cases.