Let's Talk About Expectations
We believe that it’s better to share expectations early, to encourage success and avoid frustrations. We’ll set out what you can expect of us. At the same time, we’ll let you know what we expect of you.
PROFESSIONALISM
What You Can Expect from Us
If you’ve been in our office, you’ve certainly realized that our attorneys and staff are all good-humored people. But, everyone in our office also understands the importance and seriousness of you projects, problems, and situations. That is why our attorneys and staff will always act in a professional manner when it comes to your legal needs.
What We Will Expect from You
We would love it if you were fun and good-humored in return. But all we truly expect is that you are kind, professional, and courteous to us and our staff in return.
EXPERTISE
What You Can Expect from Us
What We Will Expect from You
Our attorneys are competent, educated, and experienced, and each seeks to provide the highest quality of legal advice possible. We focus our practice areas, avoiding distractions and areas of law that will not benefit our individual and business clients. We participate in appropriate continuing legal education courses and legal groups to stay current in our current practice areas.
First, you are the expert of your business, or matter. You understand the project and your needs better than anyone. We need your input to be accurate.
Second, please don’t think we are perfect. We are human and occasionally make mistakes. When we do, please point it out in a nice manner. We’ll promptly correct any mistake to the best of our ability, but please do not yell at us, insult us, or accuse us of not doing our job.
RESPONSIVENESS
What You Can Expect from Us
What We Will Expect from You
Arciniegas Abogados understands that clients expect and deserve prompt attention to their matters. We generally respond to emails and telephone messages the same business day. If an attorney is out of the office or in meetings for a long portion of the day, he or she will respond as soon as possible. We also utilizes technology that allows us to monitor our email and voicemail both during the business day and after hours.
In certain circumstances, it may be necessary or appropriate for us to work over a weekend or holiday. However, those cases will generally be discussed and agreed to in advance, or arise from exigent circumstances, such as arrests, subpoenas, warrants or other emergency situations.
Please understand that while we seek to be as responsive as possible, we generally do not work on weekends and do not provide emergency numbers for weekends or after-hours. While there are times that we may respond to email or phone messages after business hours, it is generally the exception and should not be relied upon as a rule.
We generally return phone calls in the order they are received, factoring in the priority of the situation. Calling multiple times a day will not get a response any sooner. We may be tied up in court or an important meeting. Email is the fastest way to get a response, because we can usually check it while out of the office or while engaged in other matters.
A CLIENT-CENTRIC ATTITUDE
What You Can Expect from Us
What We Will Expect from You
We realize that your legal needs are important. Even a small legal matter can overburden an individual or a business, or disrupt normal operations. Our attorneys strive to actively listen and understand so that we can quickly and accurately distill matters down to a resolvable core. You can be assured that Arciniegas Abogados will take a client-centric approach to addressing your concerns and accomplishing your matters.
Many of our projects will require your participation, input and response. Please be prompt in responding to requests for documents, information, and answers. This will allow us to move your project forward in a timely manner.
FEES AND BILLING
What You Can Expect from Us
What We Will Expect from You
We will discuss our fees with you in advance and agree on a billing arrangement before beginning your project, whether it’s an hourly rate or a fixed legal fee. That agreement will be recorded in a written agreement that we each sign when you hire us. We don’t want you to have any confusion or misunderstanding on fees.
We provide a copy of our billing policy to all new clients. It explains what work is billable and when we provide non-billable allowances. It also describes our hourly rate, and how it is determined and measured. By being upfront and clear in the beginning, our goal is to allow you to better understand and control your legal expenses, and help you utilize our services more efficiently.
We require a fee advance for all new clients. The fee advance protects both of our interests. It allows us to spend time and money on your matter without being encumbered by concerns of payment. The fee advance also helps you to appreciate the significance of your project or matter, which can help in moving projects forward, or negotiating a settlement when appropriate.
We bill on a monthly basis, and you can expect to receive an invoice each month.
We are not the cheapest attorneys in town, nor are we the most expensive. You can certainly find another attorney willing to handle your project for less. Of course, you get what you pay for. Our focus is on providing competent legal advice for a fair value. We do not discount our rates for some clients, but not others, because it would not be fair to all of our clients.
Please be upfront, and ask all the questions you have about billing, costs, fees, and the fee advance at the beginning of our representation. We want to make sure there is no confusion or misunderstanding on our fees and billing.
If you notice something on your invoice that you do not understand, please give us a call. We would be happy to explain what an entry represents, and how your bill was prepared and calculated.
Also, when we send out an invoice that has an outstanding balance, please pay it in a timely manner. We run our small business on a tight budget. Just like the majority of our clients, we rely on cash-flow from our billing to keep our employees paid and our doors open.
If you have a depleting fee advance, please refill it as needed.
If you are having problems making payment, please contact us sooner rather than later to discuss your situation so we can work towards a solution that meets your needs, and allows us to continue our representation.