What to Expect from your Initial Contact with TDC Family Law

We appreciate the trust you place in Tracy and our firm to help you through a difficult period.  Before we can establish a professional relationship, we have to be sure there are no conflicts of interest that would prevent our office from taking your case.

Initial Intake Interview to Ensure There Is No Conflict of Interest

A member of our staff will ask you a series of preliminary questions to determine if a conflict of interest exists which would prevent us from meeting with you.  We will not ask for any confidential information on this call.  We ask that you refrain from offering any confidential information as there is no attorney-client relationship at this point.

During the initial intake call, we will ask questions about you and your case.  Information you will be asked for includes your name, the other party’s name, if they have an attorney, who it is, your contact information, and a general description of the issues for consultation, and if anything has been filed with the court.

After the initial interview, we will determine if we are able to take on your case.  Some reasons why we may not be able to include:

• There is a potential conflict with the other party.
• If the case has been filed, there may be a conflict of interest with the other party’s attorney or an expert that may be called in the case.
• We do not serve the jurisdiction in which the case may be litigated.
• We will not be available based on timing and our current caseload.
• Issues of your case are outside of our normal practice areas.

After we gather all the relevant information, we may ask to place you on hold while we review your answers and perform a conflict check.  In some cases, we will ask to call you back so we can go through the information you provided in detail.

45-Minute Consultation

Once we determine there is no conflict, we will schedule a consultation.  During this meeting, we will ask for more information.  Some of this information may be confidential.  Any confidential information communicated to us at this consultation will remain confidential.

During this period of the COVID-19 Pandemic, consultations are provided over Zoom Video Conferences to limit exposure for your safety and for ours.

TDC Family Law offers a 45-minute consultation.  If you retain Tracy Duell-Cazes, the cost of the initial consultation will be applied to your initial retainer fee.

You will have the option to request additional time for your consultation.  This additional time will be charged at our standard hourly rate for the type of matter for which you are consulting with our office.

If you request a follow-up consultation, you will also be charged our standard hourly rate for the type of matter for which you are consulting with our office.

Getting Started

Following the initial consultation, if you wish to retain our services, and we accept you as client, you will be sent an email with the Fee Agreement to review, execute and return with your initial retainer in an amount determined during the initial consultation.

The initial retainer is required to be paid via a Cashier’s Check or another certified form of payment.

If you are outside of the United States, you may pay through a wire transfer. Please note that you will be responsible for all fees related to the wire transfer.

Your monthly invoice may be paid by check, credit card, or wire transfer. Remember that you will be responsible for all wire transfer fees.

Once again, thank you for your interest in working with us and the trust you place in our firm. We look forward to hearing from you. If you have any questions regarding your initial contact with our firm, please call our office at 408-267-8484.