Consultation

Faith Jansen Consultation

Consultation Appointment Times

Consultations are usually set to begin between 9:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday; and 9:30 a.m. through noon on Fridays.

Fee and Information for an Initial Consultation for Mediation

The fee for an initial consultation for mediation services (called a “Mediation Orientation”) is a flat $150.00. The appointment usually takes 1-1/2 hours. Both parties to the prospective mediation must attend. Intake forms will be sent out in advance at the time the appointment is scheduled. Once Ms. Jansen sees a couple in a Mediation Orientation, she can only provide mediation services to them. Even if the couple does not hire Ms. Jansen as a mediator after the Mediation Orientation, she will not accept a position as an advocate or consulting attorney for either one of them individually in an adverse relationship to the other.

Fee and Information for All Other Types of Initial Consultations (eg., for Periodic Consulting with Self-Represented Parties, Court Representation, and Collaborative Divorce)

The fee for the first hour of the initial consultation is $150.00. After the first hour, the fee is the full attorney hourly rate, broken down into tenth’s of an hour. To find out the current amount of Ms. Jansen’s regular hourly rate, call our office. (Go to Appointments.) Once an individual is seen alone in a consultation, Ms. Jansen cannot switch to become a mediator for a couple including that individual. After seeing an individual client, Ms. Jansen may encourage that client to use mediation, in which case Ms. Jansen would be able to assist the client in selecting another qualified mediator and would be able to serve as the client’s consulting attorney between mediation sessions and to review any proposed marital settlement agreement before the client signs it.

Assessing Type of Legal Service Appropriate for Each Case

Prospective clients for mediation have to decide that they wish to use Ms. Jansen as a mediator before they come into the office. To get help in making this pre-consultation decision, a prospective client (or both members of the prospective mediating couple) may contact Ms. Jansen’s office to ask questions about mediation services. When a couple comes to a Mediation Orientation, Ms. Jansen may give them further assistance in assessing whether their case is suitable for mediation. When a prospective client comes to an initial consultation as a individual, Ms. Jansen will listen to the client’s objectives and concerns, ask questions, and advise the client on what she recommends as the least adversarial legal dispute method which sufficiently protects the client’s interests (eg., self-representation and negotiation, mediation, collaborative divorce, negotiation through an attorney, or court litigation).

Periodic Consulting With Self-Represented Clients

Ms. Jansen will consult with a self-represented client in a case where the client is doing his or her own negotiations directly with the other party. In this arrangement, Ms. Jansen may prepare the client’s Declaration of Disclosure and Marital Settlement Agreement, and submit the Judgment (filed in the name of the client as a self-represented party), but she will not have any contact with the other party, appear in court, litigate, or coach the client in a litigation process. If the client wishes Ms. Jansen to communicate with the other party to negotiate as the client’s spokesperson, it is possible to add such a provision to the consulting attorney contract, but that consulting attorney contract will still provide that Ms. Jansen is not retained to appear in court, litigate, or coach the client in the litigation process. The onset of litigation will terminate the consulting contract. Ms. Jansen is not obligated to enter into a Court Representation retainer contract upon termination of the consulting contract. If she declines to do so, she will refer the client to resources to assist in locating litigation counsel.