Attorney
Service Models
Offering Six Unique Attorney Service Models to Fit Your Legal Needs
At McCunn Law, we offer six (6) unique attorney service models to best meet your legal needs:
We Can Help You Select the Proper Attorney Service Model
For more information about our available service models, please contact us online today. We are also available by phone at (916) 773-6100.
Self-Representation
You represent yourself and will produce your own paperwork and negotiate your own settlement.
This is the right model when you have the time to figure out the right paperwork.
Representation
An attorney “of record” represents you, having formally substituted into the case and stands as a representative between you and both the court and the opposing party or counsel. The attorney and their staff will handle your paperwork and negotiations.
Representation has the following benefits:
- Opposing counsel and party must go through your Attorney rather than approach you directly. If they are hostile, confusing or hard to understand, you have someone on your side, negotiating and communicating on your behalf.
- The attorney speaks to the court on your behalf.
- The attorney is responsible for your paperwork and procedure.
- We assign a lead attorney and an associate, so you can rapidly reach a team member who knows both you and your circumstances.
- If the parties cannot negotiate a settlement, you can seek a final ruling from the court.
- The team can obtain and manage experts necessary for your case.
- Limited Scope Representation is available to manage your budget. In this case, you only have an attorney handle a specific part or step in your case.
This is the right model when trust is low, conflict is high, safety is a concern and the ability to be mature in the face of the stress of separation is difficult. A budget can be tailored to your specific needs.
Representation is available for all practice areas at McCunn Law.
Document Services
Whether you are self-representing or mediating, you will still need to complete the paperwork required by the court. Every year this paperwork appears to be getting lengthier and more complex! Often this paperwork can be completed quickly, but can appear difficult, hard to comprehend or complex to the untrained eye. Mistakes in the paperwork can have harmful effect or force re-drafting. Hiring a trained person to complete the paper work can reduce your stress, save you time and allow you to focus on the critical issues and decisions that you need to make, secure in the comfort that the paper work is done and filed correctly.
This is the right model where your time is limited and you want the documents done right. The cost is driven by the document to be drafted and the efficient providing of the necessary inputs to the document drafter.
Document Services is available for practice areas and in cases of Family Law, Decedent Estates, Incapacity, and Minors. (not available in Estate Planning)
Mediation
A trained mediator will assist you and your partner in privately resolving your conflict. The mediator serves as a neutral facilitator of both conflict resolution and necessary court required procedure. Therefore, the mediator will not meet with either of you alone. A mediator can be active or passive. Active mediators provide a recommended agenda with guidance as to procedure, paperwork and common solutions for common issues; a passive mediator focuses more on client issues, allowing the clients to direct the agenda and the discussion of potential solutions.
Mediation has the following benefits:
- Private; you do not need to go to court
- Reduced time pressure and stress; you never are under the gun to make a decision or settling on the court house steps.
- Usually less expensive than representation under the following conditions:
- Both parties share information openly
- Both parties commit to resolving the case through mediation
- Both parties focus on positively moving forward
You are hiring only one joint trained professional rather than both parties hiring their own team. This keeps costs much lower. See our divorce mediation page for further details about mediation services with McCunn Law.
NOTE: In California, if you do not finish mediation, the matter “starts over” if mediation fails.
This is the right model when trust is high, conflict is low, and both parties have the maturity to make tough compromises in the fact of separation. The budget is driven by your ability to come to agreement and get your paperwork down efficiently.
Mediation is available for practice areas and in cases of Family Law, Decedent Estates, Incapacity, and Minors (not available for Estate Planning)
Collaboration
In mediation, sometimes you want to have legal advice private from the other party. One solution is collaboration.
Both parties have their own “mediator” who can step out of a mediation session and have an attorney client confidential conversation. The collaborating attorneys jointly work towards mediating resolution of the underlying issues.
Like mediation, this is an out of court process. If you do not finish collaboration, the matter “starts over” if collaboration fails. We are trained in collaboration and mediation.
NOTE: In “full” collaboration, both parties have both divorce therapists and attorneys on each side of the case.
This is the right model where there are some trust issues; some complexity; or desire for someone “on your side of the table” but you still want to avoid court. There is a trade off of increased expense for greater party comfort and having two attorneys negotiate the final settlement.
Collaboration is only available for practice areas and in cases of Family Law.
Coaching
One of the fastest growing areas for managing a cost effective divorce is coaching. When you are capable of representing, negotiating and speaking on your own behalf, how do you know what to present to effectively argue your case? If you are in a mediation, before a judge or directly negotiating with the other party or their attorney, how do you know where the legal boundaries lie and if the options being shared with you are reasonable?
With coaching, you can get the guidance to prepare for these important events, script the possible interactions, and review the options presented to you….without paying for any “down-time.” When you are represented, communications go directly to your attorney, who are duty bound to respond, allowing the other side to influence your overall legal expense; at appearances, you are also paying for travel time and to have your attorney wait for your matter to be called. Coaching avoids that. It focus your financial budget on the key strategic elements you need help with and allows you to self-represent on the steps you feel comfortable handling on your own.
Coaching is available for practice areas and in cases of Family Law, Estate Planning, Decedent Estates, Incapacity, and Minors.
Why Choose McCunn Law
Our methods for handling mediation and family law issues are unique. We offer legal assistance for a range of family law cases, including:
- Adoption
- Business Owner Divorce
- Child Custody
- Child Support
- Child Support Modification
- Cohabitation Agreement
- Debt Resolution
- Divorce
- Domestic Partnership
- Domestic Violence Restraining Order
- Family Business
- Family Residence
- High Asset Divorce
- Inheritance Dispute
- Legal Separation
- Paternity
- Premarital Agreement
- Property Division
- Retirement Benefit Division
- Spousal Support
- Visitation Agreements
Mr. McCunn specializes in a holistic, project management approach which empowers you to make your own decisions throughout the process. He has a reputation as a peacemaker and his honest and pragmatic attitude towards divorce and other family law issues ensures you only pay for the services you need during your case.
“McCunn Law is a high-quality and highly knowledgeable legal team. I went into a consultation regarding child custody and was extremely happy with the plan and ultimately the results of my case. They create a plan with the client’s needs and wants in mind. Drummond is also great working with regarding what kind of budget a client would be able to afford. If I have any more legal needs in the future this is the office I will use every time.”
“McCunn Law is a high-quality and highly knowledgeable legal team. I went into a consultation regarding child custody and was extremely happy with the plan and ultimately the results of my case. They create a plan with the client’s needs and wants in mind. Drummond is also great working with regarding what kind of budget a client would be able to afford. If I have any more legal needs in the future this is the office I will use every time.”
“McCunn Law is a high-quality and highly knowledgeable legal team. I went into a consultation regarding child custody and was extremely happy with the plan and ultimately the results of my case. They create a plan with the client’s needs and wants in mind. Drummond is also great working with regarding what kind of budget a client would be able to afford. If I have any more legal needs in the future this is the office I will use every time.”