How To Choose an Attorney

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

JD Bliss Blog - Recent Posts

Posted: 21 Oct 2018 11:09 PM PDT

We recently came across an interview with Douglas Bouton on the blog published by Hire An Esquire, a leading online staffing company.

In the interview, Douglas shares how he started off practicing law at Proskauer Rose LLP after graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law. But from the outset, Douglas says, "I didn't enjoy my job and knew very quickly that it wasn't for me."

In a stroke of luck, Douglas was playing in a pickup basketball league with some other lawyers in L.A. and that's where he met his future business partner, Justin Woolverton (who had worked at Latham & Watkins). Justin had started a new ice cream company called Halo Top, and needed a partner. Douglas jumped at the opportunity and has never looked back.

To pay the bills while growing the company, Douglas worked as a contract attorney through Hire An Esquire.

Launched on June 15, 2012, in Los Angeles, by July 2017, Halo Top had become the best-selling ice cream pint at grocery stores in the United States, surpassing Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Dazs in popularity.

Click here to read the full interview.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

JD Bliss Blog - Recent Posts

Practicing Law Not Great for Your Health

Posted: 01 Feb 2016 12:10 PM PST

According to a recent study by PsychSafe principal consultant Dr. Rebecca Michalak, lawyers have the worst health and well-being of any white-collar professionals. The study involved more than 800 white-collar professionals including 370 lawyers from firms and the bar, and about 170 lawyers working in government or in-house counsel roles.

The study found that lawyers' strenuous workloads, overtime and high pressure, resulted in lower psychological and physical health than other professionals, including substance use and abuse twice the rate of other professionals.

The study recommended moving away from "reactive" solutions and implementing preventative measures that will improve lawyers' work environments.

Click here to read more.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Benefits of Pre-Nups in South Carolina

Summary:
Asking for a prenuptial agreement may not be the most romantic thing ever, especially with Valentine’s Day just behind us. Some experts insist that this isn’t true, that sitting down with a soon-to-be spouse and making arrangements might do a lot to alleviate worries going into marriage.

According to a recent article on Yahoo.com, people of all income levels could benefit from a prenup, even if you don’t go into marriage wealthy. One divorce attorney pointed out that “You might accumulate assets during the marriage, and even a young couple embarking on their own careers wants to make sure that what they acquire during marriage isn’t just left up to a judge to divide.”

Trying to predict how a court will divide assets is all but impossible and the certainty that a prenup offers is one of its best features. No two divorces are alike and judges might make choices with your assets that you weren’t prepared for. By drafting a clear plan outlining how your debts and assets will be divided in the event of divorce couples can shield themselves from some of the uncertainty of a litigious divorce.

The following are a list of several good reasons you might consider creating a prenup:

Talking about potential problems can shed light on the status of your relationship today.

Many couples today enter marriages on an equal footing. Life and families can change the financial picture with one person staying at home and another continuing in their career. When you ask about the possibility of alimony in the event of divorce many couples are surprised to hear that the response of their significant other isn’t what they thought it would be. Knowing these things in advance can be important when it comes time to make decisions during the course of the marriage
You can create a post-nup.

While post-nuptial agreements are tricky and can be more difficult to enforce, they can be created if each party brings something to the table, something that makes the agreement fair to both parties.
Some prenups can cost half as much as the average engagement ring.

Some attorney can draft a typical prenup for a few thousand dollars. Do-it-yourself forms from cheap websites are less expensive, but many times they end up being tossed out of court due to legal requirements not being met. When you consider that the average engagement ring costs about $5,200 according to The Knot, the expense of what might appear to be a costly legal document comes into perspective.
Couples often wait until the last minute, creating extra stress.

Many couples put off the conversation about a prenup until the last minute creating additional stress and pressure close to their wedding date. Couples should plan ahead and prepare for all eventualities; no one can guarantee they won’t ever divorce. One expert compares not having a prenup to not buying car insurance.

Though it may not be romantic to plan for the worst, it’s realistic. If you are considering a prenuptial agreement but have concerns, you need the help of an experienced South Carolina family law attorney to guide you through the complex process.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Common Services offered by Pre-paid legal Plans

In view of a pre-paid legal plan? Here’s a run-down of the services
You’re most likely to get a legal document you need to sign
before you enroll.

Telephone and Office Consultation: You have unlimited telephone access to
a panel of attorneys concerning any legal matter of interest to you. You
can also make brief consultation visits to your lawyer for up to 30
minutes per day at no cost to you.
The only condition placed on these two benefits is that you ask about
a different legal matter.
This facet of coverage provided by legal plans is one of the most
beneficial because it promotes preventive law. Preventive law is very much
like preventive medicine – it helps in anticipating potential problems and
taking the suitable legal steps so that unnecessary legal problems or
risks are avoided. With a simple phone call to your lawyer you can avoid
getting embroiled in a hellish legal situation, and you can even identify
legal rights you don’t even know you had.

Follow-Up Service: The panel of lawyers will write letters and make phone
calls on your behalf to adverse third parties. Such follow-up service may
be all it takes to solve many of your legal problems.

Legal document review: Simple personal legal documents, such as your
insurance policies, sales contracts and leases will be reviewed. Any
questions of legal nature that you have about the documents will also get
answered by your attorney.

Drafting of wills: A will is a written document that regulates how you want
your property distributed after your death. Your attorney will draft your
will according to your state’s laws so that it’s valid when you die. He
will also advise you on any provisions you might want to consider, such as
appointing a guardian and establishing a trust.

Discount on regular fees: Any additional services not covered in the
written fee agreement will be at regular fees – either hourly or flat –
with a discount between 20 to 30%. These services generally include family
matters, such as divorce and the custody of children, and court
representation, such as traffic tickets and lawsuits.

Some of the legal paperwork you need to read carefully agree on and sign
include the following:

Written fee agreement: This is an agreement that outlines what services are
provided in the plan, how much it costs and the methods of payment.

Grievance procedure: This document details the procedures that will be
taken by the provide to resolve any complaints about attorneys or disputes
regarding service fees.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Tough Decisions

Throughout the course of your legal problems, you will have to make some tough decisions – If you were involved in an accident then you have to choose between bringing criminal damages or press with a plaintiff case, if you have a small business and you were involved in a deal, then you have to decide whether to sign it or let it pass.he number one criterion has to do with a lawyer’s legal ability: someone who lays the law down for you, present you with options, explain the ramifications of each decision you make and give you recommendations on the best course of action. In this day and age of complicated legal matters, many lawyers are increasingly specialised and you stand to get better information from someone with a practice focus in a particular area of the law than a generalist who deals with a broad spectrum of legal issues. Building rapport is also very important: your relationship with your lawyer can make or break your case. You need a lawyer who gives you candid advice and council you can trust, someone with enough perspective to step back from an issue and look at it from all perspectives. Client-lawyer relationships are very limited within a pre-paid legal plan. Because of “preventive” nature of most plans, your contact with your lawyer will be limited on many occasions. You seldom get to talk to your lawyer face-to-face – as most of the consultation is done over the phone– and even when you get to talk to them, it’s difficult to build rapport when your office consultations are limited to a dozen hours a year. The good news, however, is you still have some options left. When you sign up for a legal plan, you get to choose your lawyer and there is a number of steps you can take to increase the likelihood of getting a good lawyer.First, you need to ask for referrals from previous clients. Ask around about good attorneys in the network. Once you get a few names, check their educational background, their qualifications and their professional track record with your state’s bar association. After you receive your referrals, don’t shy away from setting up interviews with attorneys in the network. Most don’t mind receiving enquiries about what they do and how able there are. |Ask tough questions: How long have they been in practice? How satisfied are their previous clients? How many legal problems of interest to you have they taken recently?