A La Carte Legal Services!
LIMITED SCOPE REPRESENTATION: Legal Services “a la carte”
Did you ever want to hire an attorney but couldn’t afford their full services? Starting January 1, 2018, pursuant to new rules adopted by the Michigan Supreme Court, attorneys practicing private civil law (not criminal or commercial matters) are allowed to “unbundle” their services to provide discrete legal services of limited scope rather than traditional full representation. These services are referred to as Limited Scope Representation (LSR). “Not every type of legal matter, nor every client, is a good fit for unbundling. However, LSR tends to work best with matters such as landlord-tenant disputes, expungements, non-complex consumer or tax matters, simple divorces, and other domestic and family law issues” (source: https://www.michbar.org/news/newsdetail/nid/5507)
“LSR most often involves an attorney providing a self-represented party with advice and coaching; mapping out an overall legal strategy to resolve the entire matter; and/or performing one or more discrete legal tasks, such as preparing pleadings, conducting discovery, making a limited court appearance, or negotiating settlement. Since unbundled services require a much lower level of attorney commitment than full representation, they are less costly, putting legal assistance within reach of many low- and moderate-income individuals who otherwise could not afford to retain a lawyer”. (source: https://www.michbar.org/news/newsdetail/nid/5507)
Over 30 states have formally adopted LSR and their experience demonstrates that this is a great practice as it tends to benefit not just the litigant and attorney but also the courts because the pro se civil litigants are better prepared so there are fewer delays which results in a more efficient docket.
What does this mean for you? Starting January 1, 2018, the attorneys at Sterling Law are able to:
Conduct discovery, draft legal documents such as complaints, briefs, judgments and motions, without having to file an appearance as your attorney;
provide advice and coaching which can include mapping out an overall legal strategy to resolve the entire matter;
and starting January 1, 2018, make a limited court appearance or negotiate settlement.
Engaging an attorney to fully represent a litigant is advisable in any complex, complicated, or special issues or if the litigant is not comfortable with representing him/herself. However, if you feel that you can handle most aspects of your case an only need legal help in some areas then LSR can make the process easier and less stressful in addition to leaving more money in your pocket.
To find out if you are a good fit for limited scope representation, contact Sterling Law: http://www.sterlinglawoffice.net/ - 231-486-0559 or 989-705-2326
