Consulting Our Offices About Your Case

 Normally, the first contact between an attorney and potential client occurs through telephone or email contact. After the initial contact, a very preliminary determination may by made by the attorney as to whether the client has any reasonable chance of achieving his or her immigration goals. If the attorney requires more detailed information before forming any opinion or believes that the potential client would benefit from a more detailed consultation and explanation of his options a longer and more detailed initial consultation will be suggested by the attorney. During the more detailed office consultation (which may also occur by telephone, video conference or by email depending on the circumstances) the attorney will ask you detailed questions regarding your case, answer your questions and provide an opinion as to your options, and his/her recommendations as to which option is best. After obtaining sufficient information to form opinions about your case and any potential difficulties to be overcome, and if the attorney feels that you may benefit either from full or limited legal representation, the attorney will advise you as to the fee and costs involved in the various options involving representation which he has explained to you.

After our attorneys have sufficient information about your case, they may advise you that you need no legal representation at all, they may advise you that you need limited representation only for certain potential rough spots in your case, or they may advise that you need full representation. Only with sufficient information about your case can an attorney advise you as to your available options and potential costs. We believe in full and open communication about fees and costs. We genuinely welcome questions regarding fees and costs when the client or potential client has given us enough information on which to advise them. If the initial consultation involves a simple matter or simple question (s) that the attorney believes can be handled or answered by the attorney in a brief period of time there is no charge. However, if the attorney believes that the initial consultation will take considerable more time, there is an initial consultation fee of $100 USD (or 4,500 Thai Baht + 7% VAT at our Bangkok office) for consultations of up to one hour. After one hour, there is an additional charge of $25 USD (or 1,125 Thai Baht + 7%VAT at our Bangkok office) for each additional 15 minute period. After the initial consultation, if the client wishes to retain our offices to represent him and, if we agree to accept the case, the client is provided with a written fee agreement specifically stating the services to be performed by the attorney, the flat fee or case fee to be paid for those services and the attorney’s best estimate of projected third party costs. The consultation fee is required to be paid prior to, or at the consultation. Our offices accept payment by cash, cashier’s check, international money order, credit card or wire transfer. Please note that for all services performed at our Asia office, the Thai government requires that a 7% Value Added Tax (VAT) be added to any service bill. Remittances to our North American office may be made in U.S. Dollars. Remittances to our Asia office may be made in U.S. Dollars or Thai Baht.
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In many cases, all necessary communication in a case can be handled by telephone, email, fax or regular mail. We also conduct initial consultations via video-cam conference through the net for those clients equipped to do so. However, in some cases, face to face meetings are not only desirable, they are mandatory. We are always happy to meet personally with any of our clients at our offices, or at other locations in the United States and abroad if the client wishes to do so. If we feel that a personal meeting is absolutely essential to your case, we will advise you of the reason why it is necessary and the costs before the meeting is arranged. We have successfully handled many cases for clients with whom our only contact was by phone, fax, mail and email. It is an unusual feature of Immigration Law practice that this method of representation is not only possible, it is quite common and works efficiently and well.