ron poliquin Archives - The Poliquin Firm

Important Alert to All Former and Current Connections Employees

Ron Poliquin — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 18:48:19 +0000

The Poliquin firm is currently investigating claims of current or former employees of Connections.

My name is Ron Poliquin of DoverLawOffice.com. These claims include, but are not limited to, whistleblower complaints, discrimination complaints, retaliation claims, unpaid overtime claims, wrongful termination and hostile work environment claims.

On May 10, 2019, the Wilmington News Journal published a blockbuster article reporting that Connections employees at their Crest South location were being directed to falsify patient records at the direction of their supervisor. I have represented many former connections employees and will help navigate you in any potential litigation. These cases that I’ve represented Connections employees in are discrimination, unpaid overtime, and retaliation.

All consultations are free and confidential for former or current Connections employees. Connections is the largest and most powerful state-funded treatment provider in the state, but no organization is above the law. We can do this together! But don’t wait, because there are strict statutes of limitations. There are specific guidelines on how to report discrimination or how to report certain whistleblower allegations.

I will protect you and we will protect you together. You need to call my office immediately and schedule an appointment. If you’re a current or former Connections employee, remember that you need an experienced employment attorney to help guide you through this process.

Thanks for watching,

Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com

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Is It Discrimination For a Female Teacher To Be Terminated Over a Topless Photo?

Ron Poliquin — Tue, 21 May 2019 19:01:37 +0000

Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com,

Today’s question, “Is it discrimination for a female teacher to be terminated over a topless photo that was found by a student?” That is what plaintiff Lauren Miranda is claiming. Miranda was fired after a teenage student ended up with a topless selfie of this public-school math teacher, but Miranda did not send the photo to the student. She sent it to another male teacher in the district that she recently had a relationship.

Apparently, the photo was passed around and somehow wound up in the student’s hands. Miranda is suing the school district, superintendent, and other administrators on the basis of gender discrimination, seeking $3 million dollars and to be reinstated at the school.

What she and her legal counsel are arguing, in a sense, is that if the nipples in the photo had belonged to a male teacher, if it was a topless photo of a male teacher, no action would have been taken. In fact, Miranda noted that there are male teachers on Facebook that have topless photos that are easily accessible on social media platforms and never to her knowledge has that been reprimanded let alone fired.

To me, Miranda is focused on the nipples and topless photo. I would ask her some questions as far as to see if this is, in fact, gender discrimination. How has the school handled prior cases of pictures of teachers? How did the picture get into the hands of the student? Did the school do any kind of investigation? A question we have to ask is this topless photo sexual in nature? I think it would be a more clear-cut case if it was a pornographic picture of someone having sex, but here you are talking about simply a topless photo.

It is a very difficult case; I think there is a good argument to make that a topless photo in and of itself does not make you a bad role model. It is not sexual in nature. I also think it obviously helps that she did not pass out the photo, it was passed on by someone else.

If I were a betting man, I would bet that the court would defer to the school, but I would still represent Miranda because I think it is a worthwhile cause to proceed with. What is obvious here is in this day and age with everyone’s private lives not being so private and being on the internet, employers are going to have to make some big adjustments to make sure men and women are treated equally in the workplace. Especially when it comes to issues like this.

If you feel like you have been discriminated against because of your gender, please contact DoverLawOffice.com or contact a qualified employment attorney. Thank you!

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First Year Lawyer Wins Tax Victory In Chancery Court

Ron Poliquin — Fri, 03 May 2019 14:10:15 +0000

Author: Jennifer Batchelor
Issue Date: 2005-02-23
Source: Delaware Law Weekly

When first-year attorney Ronald Poliquin sat down for a hearing before Chancellor William B. Chandler III, he was flanked only by his clients: two New Castle County residents who objected to the way the county government was handling taxpayers’ money. New Castle County, on the other hand, had called in the troops, and a bevy of lawyers from Saul Ewing filed into the courtroom.

The matter of the day was a preliminary hearing in Korn v. New Castle County, a case in which the Court of Chancery ultimately ruled that the county had adopted an invalid FY 2005 budget, and had exceeded its statutory authority by holding a surplus of approximately $206 million in its coffers.

A 2004 Widener University School of Law graduate, Poliquin represents Richard J. Korn and Andrew Dal Nogare. Korn, who made an unsuccessful bid for New Castle County executive last year, selected Poliquin to handle the litigation by default, the 27-year-old attorney said.

“Richard Korn had been looking throughout Delaware for an attorney to [take the case] and he couldn’t find one,” Poliquin said. “He came to me and I was sympathetic to the cause and I figured there was nothing to lose.”

According to Chandler’s Feb. 10 opinion in the matter, Korn and Dal Nogare alleged that New Castle County and various members of its government had acted illegally by accumulating unauthorized reserves within the county’s general and sewer funds.

Chandler agreed with the plaintiffs.

The chancellor determined that while the New Castle County Code permits the county to retain revenues in excess of its expenses during a fiscal year, the reserves must be equal to 20 percent of the respective funds in which they are held. New Castle County’s reserves had exceeded its FY 2005 general and sewer funds by more than 100 percent, the opinion stated.

Because the county had adopted an invalid budget and retained unauthorized reserves, Chandler declared that: 1) the New Castle County executive and council members may not make appropriations beyond a given fiscal year, unless those appropriations are encumbered; 2) the New Castle County executive cannot create off-budget reserve accounts other than those within the general and sewer funds, and 3) the county’s reserves cannot exceed 20 percent of the total estimated revenue of a given fund for a given fiscal year.

The court noted that any deviation from the 20 percent could be appropriated to the reserves either by legislative action or by altering the permitted appropriation for the fiscal year. Altering an appropriation would require a supermajority vote of the 13-member county council, the opinion said.

In addition to issuing the three declaratory judgments, the court denied the plaintiffs’ request to permanently enjoin an $80 million bond sale that county council had approved for FY 2005. The county wished to issue the bonds in order to fund certain capital projects, rather than tapping into its reserves to do so, the opinion said.

Chandler denied the injunction because the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate that they faced irreparable harm — a showing necessary for obtaining a permanent injunction. Further, the chancellor said he doubted that the county would pursue a bond sale because he had deemed the budget on which it was based illegal.

In addition to the county itself, County Executive Christopher A. Coons, the entire county council and other officials were named as defendants in the action. Though the plaintiffs’ complaint was actually lodged against former county executive Thomas Gordon and other past officials, the recently elected Coons, and the current county government are still operating under their predecessors’ erroneous policies, the opinion said.

“It is left, therefore, to the new stewards of New Castle County to give effect to this decision and to put right the errors they have inherited,” Chandler wrote.

Poliquin said the county has proposed an ordinance that would permit the county to maintain its current reserves in off-budget accounts. Coons said only that the county is considering an ordinance that would “rectify the situation.”

When asked whether he had received assistance from more senior attorneys at his firm, Young Malmberg & Howard in Dover, Poliquin said that he had sought their counsel, but that the matter was his, and he ran with it. Thus far, handling Korn has proved a great experience, the freshly minted lawyer said.

Poliquin said the plaintiffs would like to see some of the excess funds returned to taxpayers, but that he does not believe the county plans to do so at this time. The plaintiffs are simply waiting to see what the county’s next move will be, he stated.

Should the plaintiffs disagree with the county’s plans, they will again look to the court, Poliquin said.

Download the full PDF article here

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Who wants to be a Whistleblower Multimillionaire?

Ron Poliquin — Wed, 01 May 2019 23:04:51 +0000

Ron Poliquin, doverlawoffice.com.

A question we're talking about today is who wants to be a whistleblower multimillionaire? A whistleblower multimillionaire. And how do you become a millionaire the easy way? Traditionally you could go through game shows, reality TV, the lottery, maybe go to the casino. Now there's another way.

Blow the whistle on a federal or state agency committing fraud pursuant to either the Federal False Claims Act or the State False Claims Act, or a whistleblower act.

That's exactly what happened when a Duke University lab analyst sued the University of Duke University on behalf of the federal government showing Duke fudged data to help the university win and keep lucrative grants from the National Institute of Health and in the EPA. Duke settled the case by paying $112.5 million dollars to the US government, but guess what that lab analyst received? He received $33.75 million dollars for his trouble. So if you happen to know of any fraud going on with either federal grants, perhaps in one of our fine universities here in Delaware, or going on with fraud in money in state or federal government, contact my office, and we'll investigate the claims and guide you through the process. And you may just become a multimillionaire for your troubles. This is Ron Poliquin, doverlawoffice.com. Because remember, if you don't stand up for your rights, who else will?

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TOP 5 MISTAKES MEN MAKE RESPONDING TO A PFA ORDER IN DELAWARE

Ron Poliquin — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 21:39:22 +0000

Top 5 Mistakes Men Make Responding To a PFA Order in Delaware

I'm Ron Poliquin, Family Court Attorney at DoverLawOffice.com,

Today we're going to talk about men responding to a PFA order, a petition for protection from abuse from the family court in Delaware. If just served the PFA, what do you do? In short, a PFA is an accusation that abuse has occurred usually from someone you love, your wife, a girlfriend you're living with or perhaps somebody you share a child with. Also, the court can grant an emergency PFA order based solely on what the accuser writes without any notice to you or without you having a chance to respond to the allegations. A PFA can be proved by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more than 50%.

If you do not respond correctly to a PFA order, there's going be big consequences to your life. You could lose your right to live in your own house. You can lose your right to see your children. You could lose your right to own a firearm or be ordered to pay alimony or child support for a year or more, depending on the circumstances. As a Delaware Family Court Attorney, these are the mistakes I see in how men handle a PFA.

Violating a temporary PFA order, you can and will be arrested. The truth is that the court and police do not care how this temporary order is screwing up your life, how unfair this thing is? If you violate the order and the other person calls the police, you're going be arrested and your going have to deal with a whole other set of problems.
Ignoring a PFA petition, if your wife or girlfriend or whatever files for emergency PFA petition and gets it and the court determines there's an emergency, the hearing to be scheduled within 15 days. A non-emergency petition will be scheduled with 30 days. It is essential that you get ready, be prepared. If you don't show up for that hearing and the other party does there's going be a default judgment against you. The other part is probably going to get everything they ask for because you're not there and the courts only hearing one side of the argument.
Another mistake I see in men dealing with PFA’s is not filing a cross-petition. More often than not the person accusing responded, or the man of abuse has also committed abuse themselves. So, it's essential that you file a cross-petition for abuse if it's appropriate.
Negotiating the terms of the consent order properly. A lot of times if you're not represented don't understand the process it can be very complicated and daunting. You're already in an emotional state, you're either:
- Giving away the farm without knowing the true consequences.
- You're not understanding the process, so you are not negotiating properly and perhaps you're fighting for something that doesn't really matter that much.
Not getting a lawyer, not being prepared, not being prepared for trial, not getting your witnesses together, not having evidence to prove your case. Whether they be text messages, emails, medical records, police reports, most people that are accused of abuse are not in an emotional state to handle these things properly themselves. Paying an attorney could be worth it in the long run.

These are my 5, what I see in mistakes that help men handle responding to a PFA. If you want to hire me or you want to get a consultation, mention this video I’m going to reduce my consultation rate. Go to DoverLawOffices.com and ask for Ron Poliquin. Schedule an appointment and it's essential that you prepare for this, so it doesn't wreck your life. Thanks!

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The Costs of Litigation

Ron Poliquin — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 22:00:11 +0000

The Costs of Litigation

Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com,

I’m here to talk to you about the cost of litigation and the decision to settle a case or take a case of trial. Now as an attorney and every attorney has heard this, you hear it sometimes, they say it's about the principle and in the real-world principle costs money. Anytime a client usually comes in my office, they've been usually wronged in some way and you want the other side to pay and restore you to where you were prior to the wrong. But in making this decision you have to decide how much that will actually cost you because you want the other side to pay, but you're going to have to also pay. That's why we're going to go through it today.

The old saying for attorneys is, be careful of a client that comes in and says, "I don't care how much it costs", because that client never had any intention of paying you in the first place. The truth is most people don't have the funds to litigate a case 100% or to the death. I like to use an example here to explain to you something. You know, there's the famous Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker lawsuit which was an invasion of privacy lawsuit. Which eventually lead to Gawker’s demise. Gawker was a website that essentially published tabloid type information from the private lives of public people.

What people might not know is that lawsuit was actually secretly funded by PayPal billionaire Peter Thiel. Now Peter Thiel hated Gawker because he saw them as a website that ruins people’s lives for no good reason. They had published unflattering stories about him, so he secretly funded a team of lawyers to find and help victims of Gawker's coverage of them to mount cases against Gawker. Now most people don't have a Peter Thiel so therefore the settlement of the lawsuit might be in their best interest. The timing of that settlement is going to depend on various factors.

I just made up a little list here regarding the cost of litigation, some expenses that you're going to see here:

Filing fees - it could range from $45 in Justice of the Peace Court to $400 filing fee in U.S. District Court.
Request of records - a lot of times you are going to need to order medical records or other records. Sometime that goes about 50 cents a page but that's going to vary.
The cost of depositions - that's when you ask questions to the other side or they ask questions of your party under oath with the court reporter. Sometimes it's recorded audio or visual, that's going to run from $200 to $900 each.
Expert fees - in some cases where there's going to be some kind of allegation of negligence, you're going to have to have an expert. Or a lot of times in personal injury cases I find that it is about $3000 review the actual case, $3000 to write an expert report and it could be $8500 for trial testimonial. That is just an example of a recent case I had where that was the listing of this doctors fee agreement.
Private Investigation - If you need a private investigator to sometimes interview people, sometimes to serve people or sometimes to look up information that could cost you $75 an hour.
Attorney Fees - I find in this area a new attorney is going to be $250 an hour, a more experienced attorney can go up to $500 an hour in Delaware. Sometimes cases can be higher. Those are real cost, who pays for these costs? Almost anytime the client is going to pay the cost. Meaning it didn’t matter if it's going to be a contingency fee or an hourly fee. Contingency fee is win are you don't pay that attorney until the very end. They don't get paid until there's a settlement or there's a there some kind of trial and judgment versus hourly fee were paying hourly but the client almost always pays the costs. Where in some cases an attorney may advance the cost, meaning paying them up front and you pay him later on. Or in some cases the client pays the cost as they come in.

So, these are costs that are going to come out of you. Obviously, the earlier you settle the case, or resolve the case, the less costs there are going to be. You have to talk to your attorney about how much would the cost be for this case and will you end up getting less because of all the costs you paid in a case if it goes forward. There is also consideration for settlement because of cost of time versus any uncertainty when you go to trial. No matter what court you are in, whether it's Justice of the Peace Court, Family Court, Chancery Court, you're rolling the dice if you let a judge decide. Meaning that you're taking it out the hands of the two parties. Where if you settle a case, you're not going to get everything you want, but you're going to get something versus the uncertainty of letting a judge make a decision or a jury make a decision.

Ronald Reagan once said, “I rather get 80% of what I want rather than go over the cliff with my flag flying.” If somehow in settlement you're getting a lot of what you want, I would recommend that client accept the settlement rather than taking a risk further on an having more court cost to come forward with attorney’s fees. I had a recent Family Court case where I fully expected this case to go to a hearing. We had prepared to go to a hearing and I was prepared to go to the hearing. We had cost of depositions, we had other various costs, I'd put a lot of time in and the case got settled right before trial. The reason why it got settled is because my client got 80% of what they wanted. So yeah, they could've taken a risk and go to trial and got more perhaps, or they could get the risk of taking less. So, I recommended in that case for that person to take the 80% and not take the risk. I always say the best way to get a good settlement is litigate the case like it's going to trial. It's best to be prepared to go to trial and settle the case then just trying to settle a case and not being prepared to go to trial. I think that's the worst position you could be in.

This is Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com. You have an obligation to yourself to know your rights and your options to make the best decision for you. I don't decide for my client to go to trial or settle, they make this decision themselves based on the best information I have and the options they have. Thank you!

Give me a call today if you'd like to discuss your case.

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Wrongful Termination

Ron Poliquin — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 18:54:28 +0000

Is there some kind of law that protects employees generally from wrongful termination?

Wrongful Termination

Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com, I am your Delaware Employee Rights Attorney.

I get a lot of questions regarding what the heck is wrongful termination? Is there some kind of law that protects employees, generally, from wrongful termination? Well, it is a common question. Lawyers sometime throw that out there, a wrongful termination. You hear it a lot in the media, but there's actually no cause of action called a wrongful termination. We in Delaware are an at-will employment state. What does that mean? At-will employment state means you can get fired for good reason, bad reason, or no reason at all, as long as it's not for an illegal reason. There is no cause of action called wrongful termination. That is kind of this umbrella term that we use for other statues that have been created.

We already know you can be terminated for good reason, bad reason, for no reason at all, and most employees when they get fired, guess how much they get? Donut Babe. Alright? They don't get anything. Most people get a kick in the butt and they take the little box out and they go to the parking lot and have to look for another job. Most people do not have any rights after they get employed. There are exceptions, notable exceptions, exceptions to the rule. Most employment cases come under the broad statute of Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate based on sex, race, color, national origin and religion. Some states statutes have expanded that. In Delaware that also means sexual orientation.

So basically, you can get fired for good reason, bad reason, no reason at all, as long as its not for an illegal reason, meaning something based on sex, race, color, national origin or religion. A lot of times that also means for retaliation. There is also a whistle-blower statute, meaning if you report somebody that's breaking the law or somebody that's illegally funneling money of some kind - there's also whistle-blower statute protection. There are also common law things; breach of good faith and fair dealing. I'm not going to get in that too much, that is a whole other video. So, for the most part, Delaware is an at-will employment state, but you cannot be terminated or illegally treated for sex, race, color, national orientation, religion, or some kind of other protected status. Also, there are claims involving breach of good faith and fair dealing. Which basically, we cannot be terminated for a fraudulent reason. Promissory estoppel could be another employment term, being there is a promise and there's a breach of that promise and there's damage as a result of that promise.

So anyways, that's generally the umbrella of employment law on why people get illegally terminated. The term unlawful termination or wrongful termination is not actually a real legal term. If you want to talk more about your rights, I'd be happy to talk about it. This is Ron Poliquin, your employment lawyer DoverLawOffice.com.

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When Should You See An Attorney?

Ron Poliquin — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 16:53:25 +0000

Delaware Employment Attorney discusses, when should you see an attorney? How soon? The short answer is, as soon as possible regarding employment cases whether it be discrimination, whistle-blower or wage an hour.

When Should You See An Attorney?

Yes Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com, your Delaware Employment Attorney

Today’s subject is going to be, when should you see an attorney? How soon? The short answer is, as soon as possible regarding employment cases whether it be discrimination, whistle-blower or wage an hour. First of all, there is really harsh time restrictions, 300-days to file a charge of discrimination.

Secondly, the best time is to start early. The consultation is always confidential. Meaning just because you see an attorney and get information on the case, doesn’t mean that you’re going to take action. But once you wanna have the knowledge, you want to know what your rights are, know what you can do, once you get that knowledge, once know your rights, then you can decide whether to act on it or not. It is your decision, not the attorneys. I always tell people it’s your life, it’s your job, if you want me involved I’ll get involved. If you just want to know your rights that’s the best way to go. You don’t always have to act. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do something. That is one of the parts of my job where I talk with my client about strategic moves regarding their employment.

Another issue that comes out is, how do you navigate employment law? The worse situation is when somebody comes to me too late, meaning if they have ducked taking action or not taken actions, which have jeopardized their rights under the law. I would equate it to a similar tool, you got a surgeon that comes in on a botched surgery and there trying to fix it, or somebody tried to put stitches on their own face. It is much easier for me to be in from the beginning and device a strategy and plan of action with that client then to come afterwards, after everything’s already been done and try to fix things.

Just on a legal sense, there are very specific defenses that an employer can raise later on if you did not go through the proper steps. A lot of companies have employment manuals. That employment manual usually has some kind of procedure on how to report discrimination or retaliation and what steps to take. If you do not go through those steps and you have been discriminated against, one of the defenses they may raise later on and probably will raise, is that we didn’t know about it. Okay, we just didn’t know about. I don’t care if you say, hey everybody in this company knows about it. It was common knowledge. If you do not go through their proper process, it could dismiss your case. It could be a major issue in your case.

So from the start, it’s important for you to strategize with an attorney on how do we notify the employer? How do we protect your rights? How do we not jeopardize your status in a company? How do we make sure that everyone is on notice of what’s going on without hurting you as an employment? I know as well as anyone that it is a sticky situation. It is a highly precarious situation when you are in an adverse situation, an adverse setting with your boss especially if it’s a small company. A small company you have a few employees, that is not that is not a predicament people want to be in. So, we have to take all that into account in how we set up your case from the beginning while trying to protect your job at the same time. You are going to need someone to help you navigate that maze of employment law.

Another issue is, there’s going to be the HR people. Are the HR people really looking out for your best interest or they just protecting the company? Especially if the harasser or the bad actor, the person that has discriminated against you is the head of the company or your boss. Who is really HR going to be looking out for? They have got somebody being paid $35,000 a year in HR, what kind of background do these people have? Do you just have one HR person? Is there just some secretary handling the HR? A lot of times this happens in the small homegrown companies. You have really no real HR Department and nobody looking out for your rights. Even in larger companies, who is HR looking out for?

You need to have an advocate for you, as an attorney somebody in the background that you can trust wholeheartedly. The only communications that are confidential are you and your attorney. Your communications with HR, your statements with HR, are not confidential. HR is great, but we have to make sure we take the proper steps, so the company remedies the situation and knows about it but also a lot of times, let’s not be naive, that doesn’t happen. I kind of touched on it before but you also want to give the company an opportunity to fix the situation. Maybe you’re in a hostile work environment, maybe there’s a way to notify the company have them address it properly and then you go on and prosper in that company. A lot of times that’s not possible but it does happen. Maybe they do the right thing. Maybe a company or your employer does the right thing and they should be given the opportunity to do that.

The issue here is that when you do not go see a qualified attorney early, you’re really jeopardizing yourself in the future on what you want, if you don’t know what you don’t know. I’m not saying an attorney is essential for everything. But certainly, go see an attorney to have a consultation, at least know what your rights are. Then you can take the proper steps from there. Thanks for the time, I’m Ron Poliquin, DoverLawOffice.com. Thank you!

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Charge of Discrimination

Ron Poliquin — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 16:14:10 +0000

Employment Attorney Ron Poliquin talks about filing a charge of discrimination to dismiss a federal or state employee in Delaware.

Charge of Discrimination

I'm here to talk about this statute of limitations regarding filing a charge of discrimination to bring a federal or a state employment case. In Delaware, and I'm going to say in any part of the country, as a precursor or prerequisite for bringing a statute based on this lawsuit, based on discrimination, you must file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC (equal employment opportunity commission) or the Department of Labor.

Now, when do you have to bring that charge? Usually it is within 300 days of the date of the Discriminatory Act. So, within 300 days, just think about that, that's less than a year. In other words, there are other statute of limitations out there. Breach of contract is 3-years. Statute of limitations means how long do you have to bring a claim. If you do not bring it within that time frame you're basically screwed. You cannot bring the claim, SOL can mean something else other than statute of limitations.

Breach of contract claims are 3 years, personal injury claims are 2 years, civil rights violations are 2 years. Employment discrimination claims? You must bring that claim within 300 days; less than a year. That's why it's so important for you to see an employment lawyer right away if you think you have some type of claim. Know what your rights are. Know that if you do not bring a charge of discrimination within that 300 days, you could lose those rights forever.

Very strict time limitations, there's a very strict procedure. That is one of the reasons why you probably want to see an employment discrimination attorney or employment lawyer. 300 days with a charge of discrimination. You must bring it to the Department of Labor or the equal employment opportunity commission. They also do dual charges meaning they will have a dual charge by both the EEOC and the Department of Labor. You don't have to have two charges of discrimination.

A little insight on how fast you must bring a claim of charge of discrimination before you lose it. It's Ron Poliquin here, your employment lawyer at DoverLawOffice.com.

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How Should Clients Prepare For Their First Consultation With An Attorney?

Ron Poliquin — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 12:15:10 +0000

Ron Poliquin here at DoverLawOffice.com, I am your Delaware Employment Attorney. In today's video I am going to discuss how should clients prepare for your first consultation?

How Should Clients Prepare For Their First Consultation With An Attorney?

Ron Poliquin here at DoverLawOffice.com, I am your Delaware Employment Attorney. Today's video I am going to discuss how should clients prepare for your first consultation? How do you prepare best sitting down with your attorney for the first time? It is usually a very nervous time for a client but I'm going to go through some tips that I think will help assist you in sitting down with that attorney. More importantly assist your potential attorney with handling your employment case.

I always do an intake sheet before the client comes. I keep that intake sheet on my website www.doverlawoffice.com and you try to fill that sheet out prior to coming and fill it with as much information as possible. This gives the attorney a preview of what the case might be, what kind of causes of action that caused it. Causes of action is basically the basis for a lawsuit, the basis for some sueing someone. I know some law firms will have a client do the intake in their law office, you may feel rushed. The attorney may need to see you right away so, I always recommend doing the intake prior to coming to the attorney’s office. That gives me a little heads up on what he's going to be seeing you about. Most employment attorneys charge some kind of consult fee. I will do a separate video on why that is compared to personal injury cases. Be prepared to pay that consult fee. It can be anywhere from $100 bucks to $350 bucks for a consult fee for an attorney. Come prepared to pay that, most attorneys accept credit card. Don't be in a position where you don't have the fee and then you have to reschedule or borrow money from your uncle Joe or whatever before the consult. You want to make sure that you have that fee paid up.
I always find this really helps me as an attorney, bring some kind of timeline as far as how the situation went. Meaning November 5, 1992, you were hired by XYZ company. September 6, 2001, you requested time off for medical leave under FMLA. That next month you were terminated. Bring some general time frame that always helps. I also like a cast of characters, meaning the central people in your case. Give me a list of those cast of characters and cast of characters if you had their contact information, email, phone and address that always helps.
Documents how many documents should you bring? Do not come to my office with 5 plastic bags worth of material, you will look like a crazy person. Bring the essential documents to my office maybe if there was a contract involved bring the contract. If you need pay stubs bring some pay stubs, not all of them. If there's essential emails that were sent out, try to bring those. As far as with documents, do not give your attorney original documents. Anytime you give someone original and to you, the most important document they tend to lose them. I always make it a policy of my office to scan or make a copy of your originals and give you back the original. I think that's the best practice there.
When you're with your attorney, you need to tell your story and tell it honestly, the good, the bad and ugly. Attorneys expect that not every case is straightforward if there's bad facts we want to know as fast as possible, so we can prepare the case. So, we could honestly give you an assessment. I cannot give an honest assessment if I don't have all the facts. If you're not quite sure if it's an essential fact or not, just tell your attorney and let them decide whether it's an important fact are not an important fact.
Keep a file for yourself, that goes with keep the originals but keep a little file. Let's see what if I have something here. Something that looks like this. Just put my case, keep your legal documents in there. Just keep everything in one file for yourself. Be organized…right.
Take notes during your consult because you're not going to remember everything that the attorney said. Your emotional state, the attorney might be talking fast. There is going to be a lot of information but take some notes or bring somebody that's going to take some notes. Do not record your attorney. I have had this happen, I'm not going to let that happen. No attorney is going to let you record them on the consult. But take notes and bring the list.
Bring a list of essential questions and concerns during your consult. You are going to forget to say some stuff. So, before your consult write down your questions or concerns. Make sure you get them answered during the consultation. Write them down first because in all likelihood if you have a bunch of questions you are going to forget about them during the consultation.
Be open minded, meaning that one, you are there for your attorney’s expert opinion. You believe he knows more than you. Maybe the case is not as great as you thought it was. Maybe there is some facts he needs to find out. Maybe there is a different case than the original case that you came it came in there with. I often find that sometimes someone will come to me with the case they think is the case but really, it's about something else or it's about some other cause of action. So be open minded that the case may be different than what you thought it was.
If you plan to retain an attorney, take time to read the fee agreement. It is important. It is not something that you should glance over. Any attorney will let you take time to read it. Take it home for someone to look over. It is important, it's a contract you are essentially signing. Basically, contracts are there if things go badly or if there's a disagreement later on between how much of that the attorney gets, how much you get, whether it is a contingency fee, hourly fee, or there is some kind of hybrid fee. Read the agreement to make sure you understand it. Make sure you understand the essential parts of it before signing it. No attorney is going to get offended by you reading it over and taking your time. In fact, I usually leave the room for a few minutes to let them look it over.
Last tip, initial consultations are kind of like a first date. You are feeling each other out, you are seeing if you guys mesh well, if you guys connect. If you don't feel connected with that attorney, no matter how good of a reputation the attorney has, I would look for another attorney. You need to be able to trust your attorney, if you don't trust the attorney then you're not going to make it easier for that attorney. If you don't trust his judgement, if you want to second guess him, if you think he's taking it the wrong way, don't feel obligated to hire this attorney. I understand that you may have paid a consultation fee but that is going to be a long time you're going to be in a relationship with this person. You have to be able to trust them, trust their judgment and trust their competence.

It goes back to it's important hire a competent employment attorney. If you don't feel trust in that attorney, do not hire them. Look for another attorney or more than one. I tell people this all the time, that there are sometimes people who just don't connect and that's okay. I'd rather have a client say, "I don't want to hire you, I want to go somewhere else" than if he had retained me and be second-guessing me the whole time and not really trusting my judgment.

Anyways, that is how to prepare for your first consultation. If you want to hire me, or you would like to have a consultation, call me up. I'm Ron Poliquin, I am your Delaware employment attorney, DoverLawOffice.com thanks.

How Should Clients Prepare For Their First Consultation With An Attorney?

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