At Affordable Legal Services®, a special division of the Piatchek Law Firm, our primary goal is to provide high-quality, effective, and affordable legal services to individuals, families, and businesses.
Yes, we said “affordable” – a word not often associated with attorneys.
In today’s economy, people are looking for good value more than ever. What we offer is an excellent value: professional expertise and exceptional service at reasonable flat rates. You can consider us to be Cost-Considerate Counsel™ for your family or small business.
At the Piatchek Law Firm, LLC, we understand that hourly fees may not make sense on a basic case in which there is no opposing party. However, a “one-size-fits-all” price structure will not work for all clients either. Every case and every client is different, so we offer different types of representation with different levels of service. We understand that all clients want knowledgeable attorneys who can provide good service at a fair price – and that is what we provide. However, we have also established multiple service options to match our clients’ needs.
Our Service Options
Full-Service Option
Some clients have numerous questions and concerns and desire close, personal attention from their attorney – and they are willing to pay for it. For these clients, we offer a full-service option. Many times we can handle the entire case from start to finish for one reasonable, flat fee. This fee will include any and all phone calls, meetings in our offices, necessary changes to the documents (if any are required), in-office notary and signing services, and regular status updates. If this is what you are looking for in an attorney, please schedule a free consultation with us today to learn more about our services.
Cost-Saving Option
Alternatively, we have noticed that for some of our clients, price is the driving force in their decision making. While they appreciate the idea of full service and a flat fee, they may not need the in-office meetings or notary services. This perspective is especially common amongst the many individuals we represent throughout the State of Missouri that are not located in southwest Missouri, such as our clients in Kansas City and St. Louis.
With these cost-considerate clients in mind, we created Affordable Legal Services®, a special division of our firm that provides reasonable flat rates for common and basic legal concerns. This appeals to clients who want their case done right, by an attorney, but also want to save on the cost. If this describes you, we encourage you to further explore Affordable Legal Services® by scheduling a complimentary consultation or visiting the Affordable Legal Services® website.
Multiple Payment Options
Piatchek Law Firm offers reasonable flat rates for many common legal concerns. In addition, we are flexible and willing to work with our clients to offer payment options not typically offered by law firms:
- Reduced Total Fee for Upfront Payment: We can often offer a reduction in the total flat fee that you are charged if you pay us upfront and in full when you hire us at your initial consultation.
- Payment Plans: We offer payment plans to many clients for certain types of cases. We establish payment arrangements on a case-by-case basis and can work with you to design a plan that you can afford and will be able to stick with.
- Credit Cards: We accept all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.
- Reduced Hourly Fees on Some Hourly Cases: Although many of our cases are completed on a flat fee, if you have an hourly case or ongoing representation with our firm, we can often offer a reduction in our hourly fee if you work with us to set up an auto payment to a credit card or personal bank account. Additionally, we may be able to offer further reduction in price if we are paid an advance deposit upfront. We decide these matters on a case-by-case basis and can find an option that works for your family or business.
- Reduced Fees for Litigation Cases That Settle Early: In some of our cases that involve a contingent fee arrangement, we may be able to offer a reduced percentage on our fee for cases that settle early or don’t require as much work.
Affordable Legal Services
Why Haven’t You Hired an Attorney Yet?
Too often, people who need legal help choose not to get it – typically because they don’t think they can afford an attorney. Sometimes that is true; they can’t afford an attorney. However, we have found that for most people, the issue is that they think they can’t afford an attorney. In reality, they probably can. Many people assume the worst when it comes to attorneys, so we encourage you to have an open mind. If you schedule a free consultation and give us the opportunity to work out a service arrangement for you, you may find that you can afford an attorney after all.
Unfortunately, many people ignore their legal concerns and hope their problems will simply go away. They may try to handle things on their own, armed only with advice from unqualified friends and family members, information found on the TV or radio, or (the most dangerous culprit of all) do-it-yourself or “self-help” legal sites on the Internet.
Not Hiring an Attorney Will Cost You More Than Hiring One Would
In today’s world, can you afford to not have an attorney? Neglecting to hire an attorney when you need one can be extremely expensive and more costly in the long run. It can cost you dearly in money, time, frustration, stress, and new legal problems that can result from your failure to take action now. The services of a good attorney may actually save you time and money when all is said and done by helping you prevent problems before they occur. The assurance of reasonable fees offered by Affordable Legal Services® may be the extra incentive you need to deal with your legal problem now, instead of putting it off until later.
Affordable Legal Services® strives to offer an excellent value in legal services – meaning we pride ourselves on being a solid overall combination of both high-quality legal services and reasonable pricing. So when you come to see us, you will receive professional and compassionate legal services at a fair price.
We do not take every type of case under our Affordable Legal Services® division, but we do handle a wide array of legal concerns. If we cannot handle your case under Affordable Legal Services®, we have multiple attorneys available at Piatchek Law Firm that may be able to take your case.
A Note to Legal DIYers
We regularly speak with people that we consider to be “Legal DIYers” or “Do-It-Yourselfers.” These people believe they can save money by handling their own case. So instead of going to a licensed, qualified attorney, they will rely on a computer program, the Internet, friends, or family for legal advice. While it may seem like they are saving money, they are actually costing themselves far more in the long run if mistakes are made.
Oftentimes, these mistakes are the sort that won’t be discovered until it is too late: the “invalid” Last Will and Testament found after someone dies; the business that is set up incorrectly, discovered after a lawsuit has already commenced against the business; the harmful contract clause discovered in the contract after it has already been signed and the person/business is being sued. In these types of cases, by the time the mistake is noticed, it is simply too late to fix. Or if the problems can be fixed, they are now more complicated and expensive to put right, like do-it-yourself divorce documents, which could have been completed correctly the first time by an attorney.
Attorneys Build Relationships
Browsing the Internet for legal forms does not create a relationship, and when problems arise as a result of your DIY effort, you cannot ask questions of the website or computer program. We have found that many people who choose a “do-it-yourself” method still end up in a lawyer’s office someday anyway, either because problems arise or because they have been lying awake at night wondering one of the following questions:
- Did I do that right, or has it been wrong all along?
- Will this contract or document stand up to scrutiny someday?
- Are there options or possibilities that I did not think about?
- Are there laws or regulations that I did not know about that could invalidate my planning?
- Was doing this alone (without an attorney’s advice) the best thing for me, my family, or my business?
- Do I truly understand the legal document I signed?
If you could receive excellent legal services for a reasonable flat fee, wouldn’t that make more sense than attempting to do it yourself? At both the Piatchek Law Firm and Affordable Legal Services®, we believe that everyone deserves high-quality legal services at fair prices and that basic, straightforward cases should be handled at reasonable, flat rates. To learn more, please schedule a complimentary consultation with us today.
