The Manely Firm has been helping families for 30 years. All of those years our first consultations have been free. Over the course of 30 years we have helped thousands upon thousands of clients in family law. Over the course of 30 years we have consulted with, provided critical information to tens of thousands of potential clients in divorce, modification, contempt and every other facet of family law.
We have always been dedicated to the idea that a potential client ought to be able to kick the tires, see if the fit is right. We have always been committed to providing the potential client with the most information we could provide during the free consultation. We wanted them to leave the consultation understanding exactly how to prevail in their case so that if they chose to hire us, they knew exactly what we would do and how we would do it. We provided those consultations regardless of the potential client’s means or net worth. We provided those consultations to help as many people as we possibly could. And we did.
But our success has taken its toll on us. We had gotten to the point where we were providing hundreds of hours of free consultations every month. That certainly resulted in dozens of new clients each month, which was a welcome and wonderful thing, but it also took up the equivalent of several attorneys doing nothing but providing free consultations. We had far too much demand and far too little supply for that to continue.
So we’ve had to make a switch. We are now charging for our initial consultations. We have to. The consultation will still be the same information packed hour that lays out exactly what needs to be done and how we would do it so that the potential client leaves knowing everything they need to know. Potential Clients will definitely get their money’s worth.
I feel some sense of loss in closing down the free consultations, but I also feel that, with our impeccable service and extraordinary level of insight, strategic thinking and trial prowess, we were doing our clients a disservice by taking up hundreds of hours of our attorneys’ time on providing free services.
It is the end of an era but the dawning of a new one.
-Michael Manely