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Retainer Amounts
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Below are my REQUIRED UPFRONT RETAINER AMOUNTS, listed in U.S Dollars ($), for the various types of cases I handle. This money covers any Court filing fee and initial service attempt upon other parties in the case. The remainder of it goes toward my attorney's fees, which are earned at my usual rate of $150.00 per hour (unless I require or agree to another rate). Payment may be made by cash, money order, cashier's check, personal check, PayPal, VISA or Mastercard.
Also below are answers to common questions regarding retaining me as an attorney, including what sorts of things I charge for, how to retain me, etc.
Simply click on the appropriate link below that applies to the type of legal representation you need.
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DIVORCE Required Upfront Retainer Amount
SUPPORT Required Upfront Retainer Amount
GUARDIANSHIP Required Upfront Retainer Amount
CUSTODY/VISITATION Required Upfront Retainer Amount
Do I have to pay your retainer all upfront, or can I make payments on it?
If the case quickly settles, can I get some of my money back?
If my spouse/ex and I make up or reconcile, will I get a refund?
Can I purchase only necessary forms from you? I want to represent myself.
Do you accept payment by credit card?
Do you charge for drive time?
What is your hourly rate?
DIVORCE Required Upfront Retainer Amount
ANYWHERE FROM $500 TO $1500. Starts off at a base of $500. If minor child or children, add $300. If no case has yet been filed and a filing fee is required, add $200. If protective order case is pending between you and spouse, add $100. If either party out-of-state, add $100. If either party self-employed, add $50. If home or real property to divide, add $50. If retirement fund(s) to divide, add $50. If married 10 years or more, add $50. E-mail or call my office, and I will calculate the retainer quote for you.
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SUPPORT Required Upfront Retainer Amount
ANYWHERE FROM $500 to $700. Starts off at a base of $500 for child support or spousal support (i.e., alimony) modification and collection cases. If you are the one seeking to change the current child support or alimony amount or collect the back-due child support or alimony owed, add $100. If you or the other party does not reside in Oklahoma, add $100. E-mail or call my office, and I will calculate the retainer quote for you.
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GUARDIANSHIP Required Upfront Retainer Amount
ANYWHERE FROM $700 to $900. Starts off at a base of $700 for people seeking to get a guardianship in place or to fight against a pending action or terminate a current guardianship order. If you are the person seeking the guardianship and no case has yet been filed, add $100. If a protective order case is pending between you and an acquaintance or relative who would be involved in the case, add $100. E-mail or call my office, and I will calculate the retainer quote for you.
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CUSTODY/VISITATION Required Upfront Retainer Amount
$700 AND UP. Only $700 for moms on the other side of civil paternity actions where a child or children is/are out of wedlock, and the dad seeks custody or visitation. For dads seeking this, the retainer is $800 in order to cover the cost of the Court filing fee; or, if a case has already been filed, just $700. For parents seeking to change custody or visitation or to enforce an existing court order regarding custody or visitation, the retainer is again only $700; and, if you are the party seeking the change or enforcement and nothing has been filed with the Court in that regard, add $100 to that. If a protective order case is pending between you and the other parent, add $100 as well. Finally, please note that in custody modification cases, whether you are the party requesting the modification or not, then I reserve the right to require additional funds upfront. Whether I do so depends upon the Court where and Judge with which the hearing is already set or motion will be heard once filed and whether I think a trial will occur at that first hearing. I like to be paid upfront enough to cover the trial time, and sometimes $700 will not get me there.
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Do I have to pay your retainer all upfront, or can I make payments on it?
Yes, I want it upfront; and sorry, but no, you cannot make payments on it. That's why I call it the "required upfront amount," and that is not necessarily the total amount you are going to pay in the end. I do pay any initial filing fee and initial service cost out of your retainer. Any other costs are billed to you later. The rest of the retainer pays me for my work at the rate of $150 per hour for all work done on the case except for communications with the client, which are only $50 per hour. If your retainer gets used up, I send you a statement and you have a month to pay it.
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If the case quickly settles, can I get some of my money back?
Yes. In that event, you may receive a refund of attorney's fees not earned. However, in many instances all of the retainer is earned and depleted. In any event, I can prepare a statement at the conclusion of my representation of you.
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If my spouse/ex and I make up or reconcile, will I get a refund?
Yes, if I have not done any work yet. However, in many instances I start working on cases as soon as I am retainer. I can prepare a statement at the conclusion of my representation of you. You will be refunded any remaining retainer.
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Can I purchase only necessary forms from you? I want to represent myself.
No. I am an attorney operating a law office seeking to represent you, not some unlicensed person seeking to make money in the legal arena from people who wish to try to do their own divorces. Fortunately, I have a law license and a juris doctorate degree. Unfortunately, however, I incurred substantial student loans and worked through college and law school for more than 7 years to obtain this degree and this license. Like most of you, I have bills to pay. IF YOU WISH TO ARE SEEKING TO REPRESENT YOURSELF AND ARE LOOKING FOR DIVORCE, PATERNITY, CUSTODY, OR OTHER FORMS, I RECOMMEND YOU VISIT THE WEBSITE CALLED "okcustody.com". IF YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO CALCULATE CHILD SUPPORT, I SUGGEST YOU TRY THE CHILD SUPPORT CALCULATOR AT "familiesintransition.com". IF YOU WANT TO LOOK UP AN EXISTING CASE OR TO SEE IF A CASE HAS BEEN FILED, I SUGGEST YOU SEARCH THE COURT DOCKETS AT "www.oscn.net".
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Do you accept payment by credit card?
Yes, I accept VISA and Mastercard. To facilitate payment, we may scan a credit card at our office or may take a credit card number over the telephone. Also, if you have a PayPal account with a credit card account set up through them, you can pay me that way. My PayPal account is registered under the e-mail address jk_mitchell@sbcglobal.net. For more information about PayPal, visit their website at http://www.paypal.com.
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Do you charge for drive time?
No, not typically. If Court is within 1 hour and 15 minutes drive-time from my Collinsville office, my gasoline and travel time expended are free to you. If travel time is more than that one way, I will charge for travel time for the amount in excess of those 75 minutes BOTH ways. Muskogee and Pawnee are the further counties I travel to without charging anything extra. Tulsa, Washington, Rogers, and even Wagoner and Osage counties are all fair game and well within a one-hour (i.e., free) drive. I have traveled to Okemah, McAlester, Wilberton and other faraway places on cases and simply had to require a bigger retainer upfront. However, even then, I do not charge for gasoline or turnpike fees.
When I do charge, I charge it for the travel time that exceeds the 1 hour and 15 minutes drive-time each way. For example, suppose you live in Miami, Oklahoma, and have a case in Ottawa County, which a good distance from my office. Would I be willing to represent you. Maybe, if my caseload was not too busy and subject to certain conditions. I will represent any person within a 1 hour and 15 minutes from my Collinsville office without charging the person any additional amount for the distance. I will not charge for gasoline, mileage, turnpike fees, or other travel expenses in any instance. However, if my driving time exceeds 75 minutes without stops either way, I will charge you for that time. Further, I will request that the extra time going both ways for at least one court trip be added to your upfront retainer. So since Miami is about a 1-hour, 45-minute minute drive for me, I go over 30 minutes traveling to and then 30 minutes again (1 hour total) traveling to and from Court. So upfront, I would require that you pay an additional amount to cover the extra travel time required for one Court appearance. In this example, it would be $150.00 because the extra total travel time was 1 hour, and I am $150 per hour. Also, any time there was another required court appearance set, I would require you to advance me funds for that additional travel time prior to the Court date.
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What is your hourly rate?
$150.00 per hour for all work done on the Client's case except for communications with the Client. Communications with clients are billed at the rate of $50.00 per hour, regardless of whether they be by telephone or e-mail, and regardless of whether such communications occur between a client and myself or someone else in my office. We do not initiate and bill for any unnecessary communications.
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