standinfor.me

Email templates · Law firm

Email template to ask a law firm for a consultation and their fees

Something has happened that may need a lawyer: a contract gone wrong, an injury, a dispute with a landlord or an employer, a will to write. You want to find out whether a firm takes cases like yours, whether the first meeting is free, and how they charge. Lawyers bill in a few ways: by the hour, a flat fee for a defined job, or a contingency fee, which means the lawyer takes a percentage of whatever you recover and nothing if you lose. Many ask for a retainer, money paid up front that they bill against. Email lets you describe the matter once, send it to several firms, and compare answers in writing before you spend an afternoon in anyone's office.

Before you send

  • A three-sentence summary of what happened, when, and who is involved. Keep it factual and leave out anything you would not want a stranger to read; the firm has not agreed to represent you yet.
  • The names of the other parties. Firms run a conflict check to make sure they do not already represent the other side, and they need the names to do it.
  • Any deadlines you know of, such as a court date, a response due date, or the date the problem began. Legal claims have time limits that vary by state and type of claim.
  • What you want to happen: money back, a contract enforced, a document drafted, advice only.
  • Your budget and how you would prefer to pay.
Subject Consultation request: [one-line description of the matter] 
Hi [attorney or firm name],

I'm looking for a lawyer for a [type of matter, e.g. landlord dispute / car accident injury / small business contract] in [city, state], and I'd like to know whether your firm handles cases like this and how I can set up a consultation.

Briefly: [two or three factual sentences about what happened and when]. The other party is [name of person or company], which you may need for a conflict check. [There is a deadline of date / I'm not aware of any deadline yet.]

Before we meet, could you let me know:

- Whether there is a charge for an initial consultation, and how long it runs
- How you bill for this kind of matter: hourly, flat fee, or contingency, and the typical rates or percentage
- Whether you would need a retainer to start, and roughly how much
- Your earliest availability [in person / by phone or video]

I'm speaking with a couple of firms this week and hope to decide by [date].

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Expect a reply from an intake person, not the lawyer, within a day or two, often asking a few screening questions. That is normal. A firm that will not say how it bills until you come in is the bad answer.
  • If the first meeting is not free, ask whether the fee is credited against your bill if you hire them.
  • Once you choose a firm, insist on a written fee agreement before any work starts. It should state the rate or percentage, what costs are extra, and how you can end the relationship.
  • If no one takes the case, your state or county bar association runs a lawyer referral service that can point you to firms that handle your type of matter, sometimes with a low-cost first consultation.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Find me a lawyer and get their fees 
Hi StandIn,

Please contact law firms that handle my kind of matter, find out how they charge, and set up a consultation.

The matter: [type of case and two or three factual sentences about what happened].
Where: [city and state].
Other party: [name of person or company].
Deadlines I know of: [dates, or "none that I know of"].
What I want: [outcome].
Budget and preference: [amount, and hourly / flat / contingency].
My availability: [days and times].

Contact several firms, ask each about consultation cost, billing method, rates, and retainer, book the consultation with the best fit, and bring me a comparison.

Thanks,
[Your name]

Related templates