Helpful Items to Bring to Your First Consultation

Hello all! Today I would like to provide some guidance as to what you should expect to bring to your first legal consultation with an attorney, including Marcie Baker. I hope to highlight each of the three practice areas that she specializes in and explain how you can be most prepared to have a successful consultation.

First off, what exactly is a legal consultation? According to Legal Match, legal consultation is, “an initial meeting with an attorney that takes place before you make the decision on whether to hire that attorney to represent you in your particular legal matter.” In addition, the consultation is used by the attorney so that they can determine if they are in the best position to represent you competently and to the best of their ability.

Something else important to note: during a free consultation, detailed legal advice is not provided. The consultation is meant to see if the person would like to work with the attorney and if the attorney would like to take on the case that the person is presenting to them. Any legal advice will come after the attorney has been hired by the person.

So, what should you bring to your first legal consultation? Well, this could vary depending on the type of case that you have. I will illustrate below some helpful items to bring when consulting with Marcie Baker on one of the three practice areas that she specializes in.

Work Comp.

Here are some helpful items to bring to your Work Comp. consultation:

- Any written reports of your injury or the accident that occurred

- Correspondence with your employer about the accident

- Contact information for your employer and the insurance company that is handling your injury claim

- Medical records

Bankruptcy

Here are some helpful items to bring to your Bankruptcy consultation:

- Bring a list of outstanding debts and assets

- A pay stub, to show what kind of income you are bringing in

- A list detailing your income and expenses, and, if you have a family, a list of the household income and expenses

Family Law

Since family law can be very intricate and several legal issues can arise, what you should bring varies depending on the type of case that you have. Since Marcie Baker works with divorce, paternity, parenting plans, and alimony, I will structure my helpful items around those topics.

Here are some helpful items to bring to your Family Law consultation:

- Any court documents that may have been filed by the other party

- Employment information

- A list of questions to ask the attorney regarding your case

- Proof that you have been a resident of Florida for at least 6 months

- If there are minor children; their dates of birth and Social Security numbers

-If this is a Post Divorce issue, the Final Divorce Decree and any Marital Settlement Agreement and Parenting Plans approved by the court

It is also completely acceptable to reach out to the attorneys’ office with whom you are consulting and ask what items to bring. This will help you be as prepared as possible to have the most effective initial consultation.

I hope that you all found this blog to be helpful. As I have stated in the past, Marcie Baker offers free consultations so please do not hesitate to contact our office if you or someone that you know has a legal issue that needs to be resolved.

***The thoughts, ideas, and facts presented in this blog in no way constitute legal advice of any form. Should you have any questions please consult Marcie Baker or your attorney.

Sources:

 https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/get-the-most-out-of-a-legal-consultation.html https://www.natlbankruptcy.com/what-documents-do-i-need-to-bring-when-i-first-meet-with-my-attorney/ https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/workers-compensation/preparing-to-meet-with-a-workers-comp-lawyer.html 

https://fldivorce.com/blog/what-to-expect-at-an-initial-legal-consultation/ https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/how-to-prepare-for-a-consultation-with-your-family-lawyer.html