We're here for you, and we will always be straightforward with you.
Helping people through the worst times of their lives gives me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Find out more about what Kent Collaborative Law can do for you.
Suffering through a major life upheaval is painful. You shouldn’t have to worry about the cost of representation exceeding your budget. We offer unbundled legal services (“Limited Assistance Representation” (LAR) ), installment plans and flat fees when we can.
However, generally, all cases do require a retainer– money put in safekeeping in a trust account. Retainers generally range from $3500 to $10,000.
Call my office, and our paralegal will chat with you first. This will be a brief phone call. As part of the call, we’ll ask you about the “opposing party” – usually your spouse – so we can run a “conflict check.” This is essential. If your spouse or a close relation has consulted with us, there may be a conflict of interest where we cannot represent you.
You’ll get answers to basic, non-legal questions and you’ll be asked to complete an online intake form. The form will give us basic information that will allow us to see if we’re a good fit.
Because of the time and effort we put into getting to know you, we do not offer free initial consultations. The paid initial consultation offers the benefit of answering all your questions. During the conference I will:
I will listen deeply to you to make sure you know your rights and options. Our clients have found this Initial Consultation tremendously valuable.
Lisa Kent: $375/hour
Maisie Maclay, Paralegal / Administrator: $200/hour
Jakob Lanne, Legal Assistant: $100/hour
We charge and bill for the actual time spent working on your case. Every month you’ll get a statement showing the work performed.
If a task is performed by a legal assistant or paralegal, you are charged an administrative or paralegal rate, rather than the attorney’s rate. The billable rate includes all the costs of running a law office (overhead, salaries, non-excessive paper copies, internet). Our rates are competitive with those of other Western Massachusetts law firms. Most legal services are billed hourly, however in some instances when appropriate we can charge a flat fee – see below.
This includes drafting of document, review/signing meeting, and one round of revisions.
This includes drafting of Joint Petition and related documents and review/signing meeting.
This includes drafting based on information provided by the client, a review meeting, advice about best practices, and one round of revisions. Cost is driven by the complexity of assets, debts, liabilities and expenses.
In Massachusetts, a Joint Petition for Divorce is presented at an uncontested hearing for approval by a Judge. An attorney can assist in this hearing by preparing you for what to expect and answering any questions the Judge may ask about your agreement.
Before your case goes to trial it must be “pretried” before the Judge. A pretrial is kind of a dress rehearsal for the divorce trial. I like to call the pretrial conference “the put up or shut up” event because it’s when many cases settle!
Because of the pressure, it’s essential to have a great pretrial memorandum, one that explains and emphasizes why your scenario should win. The Judge requires you to list all of your contested and uncontested issues, along with witnesses and exhibits, in a memo that meets certain requirements. This memo must be submitted before the pretrial conference.
These are crucial events in the timeline of a case. It pays to have some representation, whether in the construction of the motion, or the argument at the day of the motion. You can control the scope of work performed.
Often you need to summarize the facts and evidence in your case succinctly and powerfully. We will help you to write your own affidavit - or draft it for you. The cost will depend upon the subject of the affidavit and the facts that need to be communicated.
When your case is in court you can get information from the other party. These written requests are called “discovery.” We can work with you to write discovery requests in order to get you the information you need to make your case. Costs will depend upon the number of issues and overall complexity of your case. The heart of the case is often revealed in the discovery you receive (or don’t receive!) from the opposing person. Incoming discovery must be analyzed and interpreted so it can be used to argue for your preferred outcome. Professional help is always a good idea here.