JOHNSON LAW

The Initial Consultation, Schedule a Consultation with Family Law Divorce Attorney Mary Johnson.  

Divorce effects every part of your life and will determine what assets you have acquired up to divorce, and your share of those assets into the future.  If children are minors under the age of 18 years, divorce will tell you where your children will live, and the days and times each parent gets to have the children for parenting time.  Divorce is on the top of the list of events that impact a person's life.   You need to seek the advice of -your own trusted, independent divorce attorney who will explain your rights to you and provide you with answers. Call Johnson Law 218-741-8517 to schedule an initial consultation with our attorney in person at our office or by telephone or video conferencing if requested.  There is no time limit on the initial consultation, and most average an hour. There is a fee we charge for the initial consultation of $250 which must be paid before the meeting with the attorney and can be paid at the time of your appointment.  On the day and time set for your consult, upon arrival, the fee is paid and there is a two page intake information sheet for you to fill out before you go in for the meeting.  You will then meet in person with the attorney in her office.  The discussions are confidential.  Every question will be answered and process explained.  At the end of the meeting, the attorney will provide an amount of payment required as a retainer fee which must be paid in advance at the time the attorney is hired.   Once the consult is over, there is no obligation to decide or retain that same day, although many clients do.

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If you decide you want to hire our attorney to represent you in the case, you do so by paying the initial Retainer Fee Amount in Full and in Advance to the attorney and you sign and date the two page Retainer Fee Agreement with us.  Payment may be done online, as we take credit and debit cards, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express as well as checking and savings account payment. Once we receive the retainer fee hiring us, the attorney will begin to prepare your legal documents, as all the necessary information to do so will have already been provided and obtained at the initial consultation, and an appointment will be made to come back in to our office to review, read, sign and notarize your papers, and make any changes. 

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Once you have paid the retainer, then signed and notarized your paperwork at our office, it is time to send a copy of the papers to the sheriff for personal service on the opposing party.  There is a sheriff service fee you will have to reimburse us for.   Once we receive back from the Sheriff the Certificate of Service, the case has legally been commenced and the Summons, Petition and Certificate of Service is then efiled by the attorney with the court with payment online to the court administrator of the case filing fee, which is around $400 payable to the court.  The clerk of court will assign a court file number and judge assigned and the clerk will provide the attorney by eservice, the time and date for the Initial Case Management Conference court hearing. 

You must appear with your attorney for this hearing to inform the court if you are agreeable to entering into mediation, which you would attend with your own attorney.  A mediator is chosen and a date and time also.  Documents are requested and exchanged between parties through their attorneys prior to the mediation.  The cost of the mediator is divided in half and each party must pay the mediator their half at the time of mediation, as the mediator fee is paid directly by client to mediator and is not included in the amount you have paid to the attorney for the Retainer Fee.  So bring a credit card to pay the mediator on the day.  Mediation or other form of alternate dispute resolution such as Early Neutral Evaluations, have a high success rate and if a mutual agreement is reached at the session, then a short sum of the agreement is prepared by the mediator in writing and if both parties and both attorneys also sign, the agreement is binding and the case is settled.   The attorneys will still need to draft and submit to the court official final documents which will include the agreement terms.  If no agreement is reached during mediation, the case goes on to litigation.