Counselling over video bridge

When it comes to billable hours, then all the work that a lawyer has done for the case, is billed. This includes prior investigation in sent materials, answering extra (legal) questions. Note that if you have sent the lawyer prior some files to be investigated and those files are not sent in a logical bunch or do not have an understandable description, then the work that a lawyer does to put them in a logical order is also billable.

In order to have the most time and cost efficient video consultation, there are few simple rules to follow:

1. Think through why are you turning to a lawyer. In practise we have seen a lot of cases where a person is very stressed about the situation and therefore can not give an objective description of what is going on and which actions they wish to take. To take the most out of counselling, take time to note down 1-5 main questions you wish to be answered and only then describe the situation.
2. If there are any documents bound with the case, then send them all in one bunch. Add descriptions and headings. By doing so, you will save a lawyer’s time, which means less billable hours.
3. Read the letter thoroughly before sending. Be sure everything important is asked and noted down. Every extra letter that is sent to a lawyer means extra work for him/her and more billable hours for you.

Yes. All materials should be sent in one letter with a description of what is what. Capacious documents should be sent through cloud services (Google Drive etc) because the mailing system might fail. When using cloud services, do not forget to give access rights to the lawyer!

If the lawyer will go through the materials prior to the consultation, then that action will reflect on the invoice as part of the consultation time.

You can choose a lawyer when booking a paid service. Legal assistance free of charge is meant for first level assistance so a lawyer is matched by our best knowledge. When booking a paid service you can choose a lawyer who you fancy the best.  Feel free to find out more about our specialists and their practices here.

All you need for a video counselling is a stable internet connection and a smart device with camera, microphone and speaker – whether it is a mobile, tab, laptop or desktop. Video call runs the smoothest on Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox web browser. Internet Explorer is not recommended. The video call platform Whereby is in English and easy to use. Although the elementary smart device using skills are necessary for smooth video counselling. A client will receive an email with detailed instructions of how to start the video call a little before the scheduled appointment time.