What are Legal Consults

Legal consults (or legal consultations), which may be in person or by phone call, are simply conversations you have with your lawyer, or a prospective lawyer you’re looking to hire, to talk about:
  • the facts and circumstances of your matter
  • your options
  • the costs of pursuing said options
  • the likelihood of success
  • the time it takes to pursue your next steps
  • in some cases, actual legal advice

Types of Legal Consultations, in General

There are two types of legal consultations:

1. Paid Consults
2. Free Legal Consults

Paid Consults

These are consults you have with a lawyer, where you give them the details of your matter, and ask them to give you specific legal advice. These consults are usually transactional, and not for the purpose of engaging the lawyer long term. These types of consults need to be paid, because you are requiring the lawyer to spend time learning your case and solving your legal problem by way of legal advice. Plus, these kinds of consults often require a lawyer to do research prior to dispensing the proper advice suited to your specific case. 

Free Legal Consults

Sometimes, you want to engage a lawyer long term; these are usually called “retainer” arrangements. At this juncture, your lawyer will ask you some facts about your case, tell you your options offhand, and how much it would cost to pursue those options. Take note that they do NOT involve giving specific legal advice, hence they are free.

Related content: What to Expect on Your First Free Consult

The Contracts Specialist Advantage: First Consult, Free

The unique thing about Contracts Specialist is that, while free consults are generally only given with a view to a retainer/long term engagement, we provide free first consultations, regardless of whether you’re looking to engage us for a single transaction, or as a retainer. 

During your first free consult with us, we will:

  • ask about your matter
  • ask about the facts and circumstances surrounding it
  • tell you your options and plausible next steps
  • give you a ballpark figure of what pursuing legal action would cost in terms of time and money
legal consultation at contracts specialist

Your first free consult with us will also give you the chance to assess if we have the right fit. Lawyer-client engagements are a two-way street and requires rapport between the parties. The first free consultation allows us to assess whether your case is one we specialise in, and you can assess whether you feel we are the best person to represent you. Note that these are preliminary talks, and preclude dispensation of legal advice, pending formal engagement.

Related content: Specialist Construction Lawyer