General Questions
I am a general practice lawyer. This means that I handle all different kinds of cases, including probate, divorces, custody cases, criminal cases, and many other types of litigation cases that are filed in Indiana courts. I also do real estate transactions, help people with small businesses, and help with contracts and preparing estate plans. Even though I’m a general practice lawyer, there are some kinds of matters that I don’t handle. I don’t normally do what we call “tort” cases. These are things like car accidents, slip and fall cases, or malpractice cases. I also don’t handle bankruptcy cases. I do sometimes go to bankruptcy court, but usually on behalf of a creditor. I also don’t handle immigration or social security cases. If you have one of these types of cases, I might be able to refer you to another attorney that works in these areas, but I myself would not be able to help with it.
I’ve been a lawyer since November 1998.
Yes, I am a member of the Indiana State Bar Association, the Hendricks County Bar Association and the Hancock County Bar Association. I am also a member of the Indiana Association of Mediators and the Indiana Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
I have two offices. My main (staffed) office is in Greenfield, Indiana in the LC Thayer Building. We are located at 18 E. Main Street which is on the northwest corner of Main Street and East Street in downtown Greenfield. Our offices are located in Suite 206 above the Greenfield Fitness Center.
I also have a satellite office in Plainfield in the Office Suites West building across from Kohl’s. The address is 2680 E. Main Street, Suite 110, in Plainfield. Indiana
Although we have a Main Street address, the entrance to the offices is on East Street. We recommend if you are using GPS that you put 18 N. East Street into your GPS and this will bring you to the main door. After you enter the lobby downstairs, just turn to your left and you will see an elevator. Take that to the 2nd floor and come through the fire doors at the top. You will see a hallway that winds around to the left. Follow that until you see a door with a wreath on it, and you will see the entrance to our suite.
No. As an Indiana attorney, I am licensed to practice anywhere in Indiana, although I do practice most regularly in Hancock, Marion, Hendricks, Hamilton, Putnam and Morgan Counties, I have represented clients from time to time outside of these counties and I am willing to travel to other parts of the State. You should know, however, that there is some advantage in hiring an attorney that is familiar with the courts and judges in the county where your case is pending.
If you are close to our Greenfield office, you are welcome to stop by, but we cannot guarantee that we would be available to talk with you. If you just need to bring in materials or sign a document, we recommend that you call first and make sure we will be here. If you want to talk to an attorney, we recommend that you have an appointment.
We are at the Plainfield office BY APPOINTMENT ONLY, so you will need to make an appointment if you want to meet with us at that location.
Please send any mail to us at 18 E. Main Street, Suite 206, Greenfield, IN 46140.
Yes. There is a parking lot across East Street from the Greenfield office. There is also on street parking on East Street. At the Plainfield Office there is a large parking lot. Both locations also have handicap parking spaces and ramps for those who need them.
Yes, both offices have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible restrooms.
Payment & Fees Questions
For most services, we charge an hourly rate of $250.00 for our time. We have separate flat fee charges as well for estate planning or real estate matters.
We offer our estate planning services as a package, meaning we will include a Will, a Living Will, a Power of Attorney, a HIPAA Authorization and a Funeral Planning Declaration. For a single individual, the cost is $600.00 and for a couple it is $750.00.
If we are doing a simple testamentary trust (that is part of a Will), then it would be included in the cost of a Will package, which is $600.00 for a single person or $750.00 for a couple. If we are customizing that testamentary trust or adding several custom provisions, then our cost will be slightly higher. That amount would be given to you at the time of the initial meeting so you can know what to expect.
We also offer living trust packages. These would include the Living Trust Agreement, a Memorandum of Trust, a simple Will, a Power of Attorney, a Living Will, a HIPAA Authorization, and a Funeral Planning Declaration. One Quitclaim or Transfer on Death Deed would also be included if needed. For this package, we charge $1,500.00 for an individual package, or $2,000.00 for a couple.
We charge $125.00 for a power of attorney.
Most deeds, including transfer on death deeds, cost $250.00, plus the recording fees to have them recorded. Most real estate leases or contracts will cost about $500.00, but we will give you a specific quote when we have our initial phone consultation.
Our clients are asked to reimburse us for things like court filing fees, recording costs, publication fees, special process servers, fees to download driver’s records or deeds, and some overnight postage. Typically these are expenses where we are paying money to someone else specifically for your case. We do not charge extra for normal overhead expenses like first class postage, photocopies, or legal research.
Yes, we do ask for a retainer up front for most of our legal services. We don’t have a standard retainer for every client, but would advise you of the amount of the retainer for your matter as part of our initial phone conference.
We will deduct any fees or expenses from your initial retainer as long as there is money in your account. Once that initial retainer has been depleted, we may ask that you pay another retainer, or we may send you monthly bills for the additional fees.
Yes, when we are done working on your legal matter, if there is still money in your trust account, then we will refund the balance.
Yes, if a friend or family member would like to help you pay an outstanding bill, they can do it either online or by sending us a check. We just ask them to tell us your name so we can properly apply their payment to your account. If your friend or family member is guaranteeing all of your fees, we will ask them to sign the retainer agreement. That agreement will state what your rights as the client are, and what the rights are of the person paying the bills.
Initial retainers are expected to be paid up front. If there is an outstanding balance shown on any invoice, we ask that this amount be paid within 30 days.
Yes, we can accept credit card payments. We use a third party, called LawPay, to process those payments and your credit card information is never kept anywhere in our office. You will see a link on this page and on our home page where you can pay using LawPay. LawPay can also process a payment through the ACH payment system. There is no additional cost to you for this service.
Yes, we offer a 10% discount on fees for current and retired members of the armed services, and first responders. We do not discount reimbursable expenses. Please let us know if you qualify for this discount so that we can make sure you are receiving the discount.
Our hourly rate for mediation is $200.00. For a half-day mediation (4 hours), the cost is $800 and normally each party puts down a $400 retainer in advance. For a full-day mediation (8 hours), the cost is $1,600 and normally each party puts down a $800 retainer in advance. If mediation is finished before the full amount is used, the rest of the retainer would be refunded.
We do offer a free 30 minute phone consultation. If we are available when you call, we will do the consultation then. Otherwise we can set up a time for that consultation.
If you want to have a longer consultation or to meet in person, then we would charge for that based on how much time we spend together in the consultation. Our hourly rate for that would be $250.00.