How Our Texas Family Law Attorneys Are Different
You want a family attorney that stands out from the crowd. You want a family lawyer that focuses on your needs first. You want a divorce attorney who will do his or her best to make the process affordable. At Neal, Ashmore & Killebrew (NAK), we do all that and more.
Our clients come to us for their legal needs because they know we are a different kind of law firm, the kind of law firm that listens to you, answers your phone calls and finds creative, cost-effective ways to resolve your legal matters.
They also come to us because we have recognized experience. Attorney William F. Neal has more than 35 years of experience, is board certified as a family law attorney by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and is AV rated under the Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Rating System. He has been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers and is a member of the Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists.
Attorney Barbara Evans is AV rated under the Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Rating System and attorney L. Brook Stuntebeck has been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers-Rising Stars. At Neal Ashmore & Killebrew, we know who we are. We are, and want to be, family lawyers. We do not undertake civil litigation, criminal defense cases, commercial litigation, or any other law work. We deal only in matters that relate to or arise from the family - including guardianships, wills, and probate. We often refer our clients to other attorneys for their other legal needs as a courtesy and service them, but we spend our time, effort, and focus on one thing - family law. Everyone associated with NAK decided a long time ago what they wanted to be when they grew up and now we spend all our time being the best we can be at what we have chosen to do. It is this intangible that we offer our clients - a burning desire to provide them the best and most affordable services at one of their most crucial stages of life.
Our professional lives are centered on helping people move through this particularly emotional area of law and emerge on solid footing. Call our Denton County, Texas, attorneys at 972-436-8000 or contact us online.
Our Billing Practices
At our law firm, we understand that family law litigation is expensive, especially in this tough economy. We have worked hard to re-define our billing practices by finding methods and alternative billing practices that will lower the costs and expenses of litigation while still receiving the highest quality legal services possible. The following are ways that we minimize your costs:
- We have two hourly rates, possibly reducing your costs up to 20 percent: We have the ability to bill at two different rates. The rate used is at the discretion of your attorney. We use what we call the 'attorney rate' when the attorney's skills and experience are needed most such as in trials, hearings, depositions, mediation, and in trials, hearings, depositions, mediation and drafting complicated pleadings and litigation documents. We also use a transactional - lower - rate. This transactional rate is used primarily for the work on your case which does not require the immediate skills and expertise of your attorney such as offices conferences, drafting standard legal documents, talking with opposing attorneys and other transactional work. The transactional work is the bulk of the case.
The transactional rate can be as low as a 20% reduction from the standard attorney rate. Each attorney, based on their experience and discretion, sets their transactional rate for each case. Even a 5% reduction over the course of a case that takes 30 hours to complete would result in a savings to the client of anywhere from $300 to $1200.00 on that case. - We bill in increments of 3 minutes: We do not bill in minimum increments of 15 minutes which is common practice among family law practitioners. We bill in minimum increments of 3 minutes. An average telephone conference between an attorney and the client lasts between five and six minutes. Most firms would bill that rate as though you spoke on the phone for 15 minutes. We will only bill you the time the call actually took. You will not be billed for some arbitrary minimum established for each task to be done on your case - only for what is actually done.
- We do not bill for travel time from our office to the Denton County courthouse: We do not bill for the 20 minute drive to and from the Denton County courthouse. We also do not bill for the first 40 minutes of travel time to any other courthouse in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. While we may be thinking about your case while in transit to the courthouse, we don't believe this is a job we should bill you at the attorney hourly rate.
- We use the services of a Certified Divorce Financial Planner: A financial planner can complete some tasks that are typically done by lawyers and accountants. Some of those tasks include: preparing for discovery, preparing an inventory, property appraisement and property tracing. By using the services of Certified Divorce Financial Planners trained specifically in divorce work and who have worked with NAK lawyers for years, our lawyers are able to spend more time on the strategy and law of your case. Most importantly, in using this method we create a substantial savings to our clients in fees and costs which could add up to thousands of dollars.
- We don't accept that standard, costly procedures are always necessary: For example, in child custody cases, we do not accept that social studies and psychological examinations are "par for the course and needed in every single case." If we do not believe they are necessary, we will fight them in court, potentially saving our clients between $1,500 and $10,000. We do not subscribe to the theory that "cookie cutter" solutions are right for every case. In these times of economic stress, finding ways out of traditional thinking and customary procedures can save time, energy, and money for our clients.
The billing practices outlined above are only the a few of the billing practices we have re-defined here at NAK in order to try and save our clients hundreds to thousands of dollars over the course of a family litigation dispute.
Resolving Cases Outside of the Courtroom
Since litigation is expensive, we also try to use informal methods that keep our clients out of the courtroom, while still giving them the chance to be heard. These methods include informal settlement conferences, collaborative law, mediations and abbreviated mediations and rapid resolution systems for temporary matters. However, we understand that alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is not for everyone, and some cases simply cannot settle. If that is true in your case, we will do all we can to present your case in the fullest and most complete way while constantly looking for ways to reduce costs before, during and after the trial.
Creative Solutions for Your Family Law Issue
Call 972-436-8000 or send us an e-mail to arrange a consultation with an experienced family lawyer who can advise you regarding any component of your divorce. Located in Denton County, we represent clients throughout northern Texas.
