FAQs
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Do you represent tenants and landlords?
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Generally, no. We don’t do evictions or residential landlord/tenant disputes. We will occassioanlly take a commercial landlord or tenant case if the amount in dispute makes sense.
How do I get started?
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First start with a consultation. We’ll talk with you and make sure we think we’re a good fit for the work at hand. We’ll probably ask you to send us documents to review. Then, if we still think we’re a good fit, we will send you a scope of representation letter to sign and you’ll pay a retainer. After those are done, we’ll start work on the matter.
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What is a retainer, and how does it work?
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What areas do you serve?
Think of a retainer like a deposit you put down to "reserve" your attorney's time. When you hire us, you pay an upfront amount — say, $5,000 — and we hold that money in a special account (not our operating account). As we work on your case, we bill our hourly rate against that deposit and send you regular statements showing what's been used and what's left. If your case wraps up and there's money left in the retainer, that unused portion is refunded to you. The retainer isn't the total cost of your case — it's a starting deposit.
How do your fees work?
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You first pay a retainer payment. Then, our attorneys track their time spent (billed at their hourly rate) and send you a monthly statement showing either your remaining retainer balance or amount due. You’ll also pay for expenses related to your case, like filing and registration fees, transcripts, or experts.
When does litigation make sense?
This is difficult to answer, because many factors come into play with each potential litigation-level issue. The main question is weighing time and expense to pursue the claim vs. the amount in dispute. Sometimes when you file a lawsuit, you can’t just “quit” or “get out of it.” Sometimes it’s inadvisable NOT to file suit. Our firm generally does not litigate matters with less than $75,000 in dispute, unless claims are very clear cut. We recommend scheduling a consultation if you are still on the fence about litigating a matter.
Most of our cases are in Davidson County and Williamson County, Tennessee. Rutherford, Sumner, Robertson, Cheatham, Dickson, Montgomery, and Wilson counties are also easily accessed by us. We represent clients in East and West Tennessee as well, and routinely ask those farther courts to allow zoom or remote accommodations when possible, to keep client costs down while allowing choice of counsel from Nashville.
Do you do contingency cases? Flat fee cases?
We have taken 2 contingency cases in 6 years, so only in extreme circumstances. They were high dollar amount disputes and we were successful with both cases.
We do not offer flat fee arrangements for litigation, but occasionally are able to offer flat fee arrangements for contract or document review/drafting/editing.