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Let’s face it. Most people don’t schedule consultations with attorneys for fun. The stress of the underlying situation, concerns about cost, the idea of trusting a stranger with personal details of your life, and not knowing how the attorney will react – all of this can add up to a bad feeling in the pit of a person’s stomach.

We understand that seeking legal assistance can be a daunting experience, and it’s completely natural to feel anxious about your initial consultation with an attorney. To help ease some of those concerns, here’s a little about how it works at the Satter Ruhlen Law Firm.

1. How to Prepare

If you really want a productive consultation, take a little time, before you come in, to write down, in chronological order, the events you are about to describe to the attorney. You don’t need to write a novel. Just date, location, what happened, what was said, and witnesses.

Here’s an example:

• 6/13/24 9:37 am in the parking lot at the north facility: Joe spat on my truck and called me a dumb b—-. Ron and Patty saw it. Julie heard him call me a dumb b—-.
• 10:45 am I reported the incident to HR. (Email attached.)
• 6/14/24 10:00 am HR called me to a meeting at headquarters. Present were Kathy the HR Rep, Fred the boss, and myself. Kathy told me I was fired. She had Ron escort me off the premises.
• 6/15/24 I applied for Unemployment.
• 7/15/24 Unemployment told me I’m not eligible because the boss claims I stole money from the petty cash drawer.

This isn’t for the attorney to read, so don’t worry about spelling, grammar, etc. This list is to help you stay on track and give a clear account of what happened.

As far as documents, bring that totally crazy email that the boss sent you. Feel free to bring recordings, pictures, screen shots, or your spouse or friend for moral support. Bring the contract if you have one, or bring the policy or handbook that you think is being violated. If you think there’s a statute or regulation involved, bring a copy of the statute or regulation.

In some cases, the attorney may ask you to send documents prior to the consultation. Make sure you send them at least 24 hours prior to the appointment so the attorney has time to review them.

If you have seven binders of documents, the attorney isn’t going to review everything. But if you think it’s relevant, bring it.

2. Our Office

The Satter Ruhlen Law Firm is located on the 6^th Floor of the historic McCarthy Building (217 South Salina Street) in downtown Syracuse, New York, at the corner of Salina and Fayette streets. It’s a lovely old turn-of-the century structure, with wreath and ribbon decorations over the windows. If you’re looking at the Wildflowers shop, you’re looking at our building. (The McCarthy Building is also home to two delicious restaurants – Jamaica Cuse and Aloha Bento. We recommend both!) There’s a heart painted on the north side of the building, with the words “Heart of Syracuse” written inside.

The good news is that there’s plenty of parking, whether on the street, in the open lot at the corner of Salina and Washington streets, in a parking garage, or a block or two in any direction. The bad news is that it’s all metered parking. The parking meters are kind of weird so you may want to download and use the Flowbird parking app.

The elevators are on the left as you enter from Salina Street. (On the right you’ll see the indoor entrance to Wildflowers, as well as stairs down to the shops in the McCarthy Mercantile). Come up to the 6^th Floor and turn right. You’ll see our door with gold lettering on it. Currently our floor is under construction, so there’s an odd entryway area as you come in. You’ll see a big window, and behind the window is our office manager. At least, that’s where their desk is – the job keeps them busy! The door to our office is to the left of the big window. Come on in!

3. Checking in

The office manager will greet you and get you checked in. You can hang up your coat and hat, and if it’s snowy, feel free to ditch your boots in the boot tray. If the office manager is not at the desk, have a seat – they’ll be there in a minute. Take some time to peruse the books and magazines on the coffee table. (For remote consultations, we’ll send you a secure video link.) Once you’re checked in, the office manager will show you into the conference room and then they will tell the attorney that you’re here. It may take the attorney a minute – we always seem to get phone calls just before someone comes in. Take some time to check out the books on display and the wall hangings, which provide some fascinating background on the history of workers’ rights.

4. The Consultation

One purpose of the consult is to for you to determine whether you want to work with us. So, in addition to figuring out whether there is anything that we can do for you, we’re also going to be considering whether it makes sense for us to enter an attorney-client relationship with each other. There are a lot of different factors that go into that decision, including but not limited to the strength of your case, whether it’s financially feasible, and what type of work needs to be done. Legal fees are expensive! So if you’re going to retain a lawyer, it makes sense to be choosy and make sure you’re getting someone you can work with.

Once the office manager has got you settled, the attorney will come into the room and greet you. If you bring somebody with you, the attorney will get the name of the person and their relationship to you. This is important for purposes of determining how protected the conversation may be from subpoenas or discovery. The attorney will usually start off by explaining a little bit about confidentiality rules. They will confirm that they have good contact information for you, including a mailing address, phone number, and email address where they can send confidential communications.

The attorney may ask you for some background information about your workplace. For instance, if you’re an educator, they may ask if you’re tenured. There may be some jurisdictional questions, such as how many other employees work for the company, or whether you get paid hourly or salary, on a W-2 or via 1099. They may ask where the employer is located, or ask you to describe a little bit about the industry you work in.

At some point the attorney is going to say something along the lines of, “Tell me why you’re here.”  This is a good time to refer to  that timeline you jotted down before you came in. Now, you’ve already given the office manager a little bit of information for purposes of conflict checking. But the attorney needs your personal perspective on what’s happening, and the best way for them to get that perspective is for you to tell them, in your own words.

Be prepared to be interrupted. The attorney isn’t trying to be rude. What they’re trying to do is to get key, relevant details that help them assess your situation. They’re probably going to ask you when things started to go wrong at work, why they started going wrong, and who’s involved. They’re going to be really annoying about dates, names, titles, and locations. They may ask if there are any witnesses to what you’re describing. They will probably ask about policies and procedures. They’ll ask who you’ve tried to talk to about the situation you’re facing. They’re going to be typing or taking notes as you talk, and they may ask you to slow down or to go back and repeat something they missed. They may ask you to pause for a moment as they review their notes.

At some point, the attorney’s going to explain the legal framework they think you’re operating within, and go over potential legal issues that they’ve spotted while you’ve been describing your situation. If you are a public employee, the attorney might help you draft up a Notice of Claim right then and there. They’re going to ask you if you’ve considered different options, and help you think about what options might make sense for you in your particular situation. For example, if you haven’t already reported the problem to the HR rep, the attorney may talk with you about whether it’s a good idea, what strategy to take, potential language to use, whether to copy other people, when to do it. This is your opportunity to strategize with the benefit of the attorney’s expertise and experience. You might end up making a pros-and-cons lists, or the two of you working together may discover other possibilities.

5. Ending the Consultation

The consult may end in several ways. Here are three common possibilities: 1) we decide to offer representation, 2) we decide not to offer representation, or 3) we decide to do some more research and analysis and get back to you about whether we can offer representation.

If we offer representation, you will be presented with a retainer proposal that describes what we propose to do and how we expect to be paid for it. It is a proposal to provide legal services, and the “retainer” is a written contract for those services. It’s important to understand that having consulted with an attorney is not the same as being represented by an attorney. No one is represented by our firm unless there is a written retainer with both our signatures on it.

We may conclude that it doesn’t make sense for us to offer representation. There are a myriad of reasons that might happen. Sometimes, the consultation gives an individual enough information to navigate the situation without needing to retain us. Sometimes, employees realize they’d be better off socking that money into their 401(k) than hiring us. If we decide not to offer representation, we’ll follow up in a day or two with a nonengagement letter. We always recommend getting a second opinion if you feel we’ve missed something – different lawyers see things differently, and what one firm might not be willing to take on, another firm may specialize in.

A lot of times, we need to do some additional work, such as reviewing your situation with another attorney in the firm, calling up your witnesses, or reviewing your documents. We may want to talk to an outside attorney about a referral or maybe bringing in their particular expertise as potential co-counsel. If we need to do more follow-up work, the attorney will give you a ballpark about when you can expect to hear back from us, usually within a few days to a week. The follow-up is not a commitment to offer representation – it’s an opportunity for us to get more information to decide whether we can offer representation. Once we have made a decision, we’ll either send you a retainer proposal or a nonengagement letter.

6. Final Thoughts

Signing up for a legal consultation can feel overwhelming, but understanding what to expect can significantly ease your anxiety. From thorough preparation to knowing what happens during the meeting, each step is designed to ensure you receive the best advice possible tailored to your unique situation. At Satter Ruhlen Law Firm, our goal is not only to assess your case but to foster a relationship grounded in trust and transparency. Whether you leave with legal representation or empowered with guidance to handle your issues independently, our commitment is to make your consultation a constructive experience. Seeking legal assistance is a vital step towards asserting your rights, and we are here to support you.