What Are DIY Services?
Also known as Project Based Fees and Unbundled Services
00:00 I want to take a few moments to tell you about the DIY services here at Grossman Law and Conflict Management. This allows us to tailor our legal services to your needs. How does the Do It Yourself services work? Well, let me go ahead and give you an example. I recently received a phone call from Mrs. Smith. She and her husband decided that they want to proceed with a divorce. They've agreed upon most things at least in concept, but they don't know how to handle a couple of items and that's why she was contacting me. For instance, they weren't sure how to handle the marital home if they decide to sell it or they are unclear on how to handle the divorce proceeds. They don't know if they should divide it equally or by some other percentage if one of them wants to buy the other one out.
00:48 Is that okay? How do they value it? How do they take care of the actual buying out process? So these are the questions that she had for me related to the home. They also have a conceptual agreement as to how to handle the time sharing and other issues related to their children. They're unclear however, how to write out those things in an agreement and they also are concerned about what sort of pitfalls they might experience. They also have no idea how to calculate what the child support amount should be. After having my initial conversation with Smith, with Mrs. Smith, we agreed that we should get together and meet for a lengthier period of time, so we can evaluate her challenges more fully and map out a strategy for them to be able to proceed. She could then present that to her husband. That way they wouldn't be guessing what they need to be doing and they can anticipate whatever challenges they might be facing so that they can discuss those challenges cooperatively.
01:47 She also realized from our discussion that she may not want to or may not be able to handle all of these documents and the child support calculations on her own because of her lack of familiarity with legal services and what the court procedures are. She may want me to take on a couple of those projects and prepare some particular documents or maybe do the child support calculations. She can make that decision after we meet and after she has a better understanding and we can do those types of individual services rather than representing her for all of the pieces from start to finish. So that is the DIY divorce and that's how we tailor our legal services to your needs. So let me explain a couple other things to you. In this particular situation, somebody like Mrs. Smith who's representing herself would be considered a pro se party. In at least 50 percent of the divorce cases, at least one party is now pro se.
02:48 What do I mean by DIY? Well, it's still an attorney client relationship, but we are providing what I call a limited scope service. So we are just doing pieces of the case rather than the overall case. We could be doing coaching and having strategy sessions. We could be doing ghostwriting, meaning that we are writing documents for the client. We can assist the the client in filling out the document and completing the document and we can also do research and discuss strategy with the client, what it is not is second rate service or a lowered standard of care. We are still providing our fully competent and professional services to whatever extent it works best for the client and where does it work best? Well for people who are willing to work to understand their options and their responsibilities. People that do not have significant language or mental health barriers.
03:45 They are dealing with legal issues that are extremely, that are not extremely technical, so they feel comfortable handling it and for people who take a realistic approach to their legal matter. The ideal clients for these types of DIY services are people who have good communication skills. They're able to make decisions and accept responsibility for themselves. They desire to remain in control of their legal matter. They have access to the web self-help centers or other resources which they can use to augment the assistance we are providing them. We have a list of the types of services. If you go to this bitly url, you can see what they are. Our responsibility for providing these types of services include advising on court procedures and courtroom behavior, coaching on strategy and role playing, conducting legal research document review, drafting contracts and agreements, drafting pleadings, briefs, declarations or orders, ghostwriting letters, negotiating assistance handling online dispute resolution, organizing discovery materials, preparing exhibits for hearings and trials or providing legal guidance or opinions. Benefits to individuals are we provide legal services as needed and an affordable price point for the client. And the benefit for the court is that it assists their docket management by providing inexperienced pro se individuals with experienced legal advice and counseling.
For more information, you can take a look at our website or give us a call at 239-210-7516 or email [email protected].
00:48 Is that okay? How do they value it? How do they take care of the actual buying out process? So these are the questions that she had for me related to the home. They also have a conceptual agreement as to how to handle the time sharing and other issues related to their children. They're unclear however, how to write out those things in an agreement and they also are concerned about what sort of pitfalls they might experience. They also have no idea how to calculate what the child support amount should be. After having my initial conversation with Smith, with Mrs. Smith, we agreed that we should get together and meet for a lengthier period of time, so we can evaluate her challenges more fully and map out a strategy for them to be able to proceed. She could then present that to her husband. That way they wouldn't be guessing what they need to be doing and they can anticipate whatever challenges they might be facing so that they can discuss those challenges cooperatively.
01:47 She also realized from our discussion that she may not want to or may not be able to handle all of these documents and the child support calculations on her own because of her lack of familiarity with legal services and what the court procedures are. She may want me to take on a couple of those projects and prepare some particular documents or maybe do the child support calculations. She can make that decision after we meet and after she has a better understanding and we can do those types of individual services rather than representing her for all of the pieces from start to finish. So that is the DIY divorce and that's how we tailor our legal services to your needs. So let me explain a couple other things to you. In this particular situation, somebody like Mrs. Smith who's representing herself would be considered a pro se party. In at least 50 percent of the divorce cases, at least one party is now pro se.
02:48 What do I mean by DIY? Well, it's still an attorney client relationship, but we are providing what I call a limited scope service. So we are just doing pieces of the case rather than the overall case. We could be doing coaching and having strategy sessions. We could be doing ghostwriting, meaning that we are writing documents for the client. We can assist the the client in filling out the document and completing the document and we can also do research and discuss strategy with the client, what it is not is second rate service or a lowered standard of care. We are still providing our fully competent and professional services to whatever extent it works best for the client and where does it work best? Well for people who are willing to work to understand their options and their responsibilities. People that do not have significant language or mental health barriers.
03:45 They are dealing with legal issues that are extremely, that are not extremely technical, so they feel comfortable handling it and for people who take a realistic approach to their legal matter. The ideal clients for these types of DIY services are people who have good communication skills. They're able to make decisions and accept responsibility for themselves. They desire to remain in control of their legal matter. They have access to the web self-help centers or other resources which they can use to augment the assistance we are providing them. We have a list of the types of services. If you go to this bitly url, you can see what they are. Our responsibility for providing these types of services include advising on court procedures and courtroom behavior, coaching on strategy and role playing, conducting legal research document review, drafting contracts and agreements, drafting pleadings, briefs, declarations or orders, ghostwriting letters, negotiating assistance handling online dispute resolution, organizing discovery materials, preparing exhibits for hearings and trials or providing legal guidance or opinions. Benefits to individuals are we provide legal services as needed and an affordable price point for the client. And the benefit for the court is that it assists their docket management by providing inexperienced pro se individuals with experienced legal advice and counseling.
For more information, you can take a look at our website or give us a call at 239-210-7516 or email [email protected].