IS A FREE CONSULTATION REALLY FREE?
Yes, at our firm it is. The reason we offer a free consultation is so we can have an opportunity to meet you and learn about you and your case. In our opinion, an attorney is only really in a position to evaluate a case and discuss fees after a face-to-face consultation. First and foremost, a consultation gives us a chance to learn about you as our potential client. Learning about you personally is important not only to us, but to how we approach your case. Different personal situations and circumstances can influence how we approach a case. Personal employment, educational, marital, and parental circumstances can affect the very initial plan for your case. This is always our starting point for any potential case.
YOUR CASE
A free consultation also gives our lawyers a chance to learn about your case. Whether you’re here to discuss a criminal defense need or a work-related injury, it’s important for us to hear the backstory from you. We obviously weren’t there when the incident occurred. You were. While we may learn a great deal about your case from our future investigation, we need to begin by hearing from you. Your story helps us tailor our investigation. It’s important that you bring any paperwork you have to our consultation. We’ll scan in copies and let you keep your paperwork.
YOUR GOALS
A free consultation also allows us to learn about your goals. If we’re discussing a criminal defense matter, are you hoping to have the charges completed dismissed? Keep everything off your record? Stay out of jail? All of the above? And if we’re discussing a work injury, is it important for you to get back to work as quickly as possible? Receive fair compensation for your injury? Line up rehabilitation training? Find different work?
ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS
Learning about your personal situation and discussing your case goals will allow us to explain how we can help you achieve those goals. Different approaches to a case are required to give us the best chance to accomplish your goals. We’ll know whether we need to bring our investigator on board immediately, or whether our lawyers can handle most of the leg work. We’ll explain how we’ll handle and what to expect at upcoming court appearances based on your goals. We’ll discuss with you anything we need you to do to help your own case, such as tracking down certain records, giving us names of people we can talk to that will potentially help your case, lining up meetings with different types of counselors or attending certain types of classes. This is a vital part of giving yourself the best chances to achieve your case goals.
HOW WE OPERATE
We’ll also be able to explain how we operate and interact with clients. We’ll explain our practice of handling a criminal defense case or work comp case. Our lawyers strive to stay in as much contact with our clients as we can. We will get you copies of all the records we receive as we work on your case. Email is usually the best option. We can also set up a time for you to come to our office and review your file in the privacy of one of our extra offices. We get together periodically to provide you with status updates. We’ll explain whether your goals are still within reach or whether we need to reevaluate.
NO PRESSURE
We’re not going to try to scare you into hiring us. Some lawyers try to scare you into convincing you to hire them. You’ll hear that you need that lawyer in order to stay out of jail or to keep your job. They’ll make you promises like keeping you out of jail, keeping everything off your record, or landing you a windfall for your work injury. LIke anything else, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We take a straight, honest approach to your case to set realistic expectations. It doesn’t us or you any good to make foolish promises at the beginning of your case and then have an awkward conversation about how our promises aren’t going to happen a few months later. We’ll be honest and upfront from the very beginning. That approach won’t change as we work your case.
WHAT’S NEXT?
First of all, you won’t owe us a dime after the consultation. You’re also not required to make a decision whether to hire us on the spot. Take some time to discuss with your spouse and family members, and let us know.
If you feel like we’d be a good fit for your case, we can talk about representation. At the end of consultation on a criminal matter, we’ll be able to quote reasonable fee for representation and explain the potential and likelihood of any other case-related costs. If you’re here for a consultation on a work injury, we’ll explain that it doesn’t cost you anything out-of-pocket to hire us. There are no upfront fees on a work comp case.
Give us a call if you’d like to schedule your free consultation.
Attorney John Arechigo has a passion for criminal defense in St. Paul, MN. John received his J.D., from Hamline University School of Law and also carries a Bachelor of Arts from, The University of Minnesota. John was named Attorney of the Year for 2019 by Minnesota Lawyer. Additionally, John was also named as a 2019 Rising Star and was selected to Minnesota Super Lawyers in 2021. He devotes nearly 100% of his practice to defending individuals charged with a crime.