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Knauf Santos Law

Knauf Santos Law Divorce and Separate Attorney Near Me
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HOW WE BILL

When we work on your case we bill in six minutes (1/10th of an hour) increments. This is a common billing structure among the legal profession. Our attorneys and staff will bill tasks in six minute increments. Things that take less time are rounded up to six minutes for billing purposes. For example, a three minute telephone call is billed for six minutes of time. 

We send billing out at the beginning of each month. It’s only ever sent over email. That email* will contain an invoice detailing work done on your case, how much you have in “IOLTA” (aka your “Advanced Fee” or “retainer”), and how much you may owe if you have depleted your retainer for that period. 

* You will receive emails from “Clio” or “Clio.com” containing your billing. That’s us sending the billing from our Clio Case Management system. Check your junk and spam folders, as these billing emails will more often times than not go there if gone unchecked. 

Consultations: One-hour consultations are paid in in advance prior to scheduling and are $250. 

This process involves determining how we can help you by walking through the pertinent details of your case. 

  • We will send you a preliminary intake form. Please fill this out so we can have basic details of your case.
  • We will send you a link for payment. 
  • Your date and time will be scheduled once successful payment is made. 
  • We will send you confirmation of your appointment and a Zoom link. 
  • If you prefer to meet over the phone, we will call the number you provide us.
  • It would be helpful to have your details and of the opposing party (“OP”) and any papers that may currently exist about your matter.
  • We will create a secure upload folder for you to upload any documents you have for us to review prior to your scheduled consultation. Please avoid sending your documents via email attachments.
  • The secure upload folder will only be accessible to the email address you’ve provided over the phone or on your intake form.
SCHEDULE YOUR ONE-HOUR CONSULTATION

Retaining our services. If we’re a good fit for your case and you decide to move forward with us, we will:

  • Send you a Fee Agreement detailing our relationship and with an amount to submit in the form of an “Advanced Fee” or more commonly known as a retainer.
  • You will e-sign this and send this Fee Agreement back to us. 
  •  Subsequently, we send you a “KSL Take Away” which details helpful tips and all the preparation you will  need ahead of your case.
  • You will e-sign this and send this “KSL Take Away” back to us.
  • We will then have you fill out a comprehensive Client Onboarding Form, more involved than the initial intake form you may have filled out prior to your consultation.
  • Depending on the type of case you have, we will reach out to you for things like sealed financial documents, and other personal information that we will exchange over secured methods. 
  • We will have prepared a shared client folder for you to upload and share documents between us. We will avoid sending attachments over email as this is not a secure method of transferring data.

Find out about our Hourly Rates and FEEs

HOURLY RATES

Attorney Hourly Rates can range between $350 to $450 an hour. 

Paralegal and Legal Assistant Hourly Rates can range between $150 and $280 an hour. 

Make a Payment: We use Gravity Legal as our payment processor. A card processing fee is assessed when a client uses a Credit Card. The 3% fee is NOT assessed if the client uses a Debit Card or an ACH Bank Transfer. 

  • One-hour consultations are billed at a reduced hourly rate of $250 and are not subject to the 3% card processing fee.

  • The link to pay for a consultation can be found here: 
    https://bit.ly/KSL-CONSULT-250

  • The link to pay your bill or replenish your “Advanced Fee” or retainer can be found here: 
    http://bit.ly/KSL-PAYMENT

OTHER QUESTIONS

The amount you put into retainer depends on the type of case you have. Schedule a consultation with us and we can walk you through your case.

The fee agreement between us will require that you keep the retainer topped up at all times. Falling below the agreed upon retainer amount will be subject to us withdrawing from your case.

Once we have concluded your case, we can mail you a check for the remaining amount. When requesting funds back, please send us your new address, as you may have moved from the time you started with us and the time your case ends.

How do you start when a spouse has ‘the power of the purse’? Getting off the ground can be difficult. 

  • Cash Reserves
  • Credit Cards
  • Friends and Family
  • Third-party divorce financing