HOW TO PAY FOR A QUALITY LAWYER

FEARLESS, AGGRESSIVE, EXPERIENCED, AND CARING LAWYERS FOCUSED ON WINNING ADVOCACY:

- CRIMINAL DEFENSE (All Felonies, Misdemeanors & Drunk Driving)

- IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS

We practice blue and white collar Criminal Defense, Drunk Driving/ DUI/ DWI and Immigration law in state and federal courts throughout Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, including the counties of Montgomery, Fairfax County, Arlington, Prince George's, Alexandria, Howard, Frederick, Anne Arundel, Prince William, and Loudoun.

HIGHLY-RANKED AND WIDELY RECOGNIZED:

- TOP-RANKED (AV-RATED) BY THE PREMIERE MARTINDALE-HUBBELL LAWYERS DIRECTORY

- BAR REGISTER-listed for Criminal Trial Practice, White Collar Crime and Immigration Law

- TOP LAWYER RATING (WASHINGTONIAN MAGAZINE twice in a row, December 2007, Partner Jon Katz)

SUPER LAWYERS-LISTED (Partner Jon Katz)

- NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED BY MAJOR MEDIA:

By Jon Katz

    Quality legal representation should not only be for the rich. Otherwise, we would have an unfair legal system without equal access to justice (alas, the day has not yet arrived where we have truly equal access to justice). The only way to provide equal access to justice is through quality legal services and fair billing by lawyers; extensive philanthropy for individuals and causes who otherwise could not afford quality legal services; extensive pro bono and low bono work by lawyers; and creative financing by clients of modest means. Additionally, it is vital that sufficient government funds continue to be provided, and continue to increase, for indigent criminal defendants and for traditional legal aid services. 

    For many of our firm's clients, a significant financial burden is involved in retaining our legal services. Criminal defendants do not tend to maintain a fund to fight potential future prosecutions. Startup webmasters frequently are not yet operating in the black. Not all immigration clients are earning big bucks. 

    Most people who hire our firm do so in order to seek a bigger benefit in the end, or to avoid paying a bigger and more harmful price in the future for failing to retain quality legal counsel at the front end. Once a potential client asks, s/he might learn that the cost of our services is not so bad when compared to the benefits that we can provide. Depending on the case, we bill either a flat fee, an hourly rate (sometimes capping the maximum number of hours to be charged), or a blend of flat fee and hourly billing. 

    Regarding our fees for defending criminal defense clients, prosecutors often can obtain convictions without thorough trial preparation. However, criminal defendants' lives and liberty are on the line and need thorough case preparation from their attorneys, and this is reflected in our fees.  

     We ordinarily waive our initial consultation fee for felonies, drug possession (but ordinarily bill if the charge is only for drug paraphernalia possession), and drunk driving charges, so long as there is a pending prosecution and no conviction yet. However, we do bill for an initial jail visit. Sometimes we do not know until an initial consultation is underway whether we will opt to reduce or waive our initial consultation fee.

[Superseded:    For criminal defense cases, we ordinarily waive the fee for an initial consultation with us, if your case has not yet gone to trial (and, for criminal defense, if there is already an active criminal prosecution). However, we do charge for an initial jail visit.]

     Many of our clients borrow from friends, family and the bank to pay for our services. We accept Visa and MasterCard, while at the same time recommending paying off credit card balances before steep interest charges are incurred. For clients with no experience in financing, we provide them such information. 

       The harsh reality remains that many people cannot pay for a private lawyer no matter what. Indigent and low income people have several avenues to turn to. For criminal cases, the Supreme Court has mandated that effective legal representation be provided for indigent criminal defendants. The criminal clerk's office of any courthouse is the best place to ask for the procedure for obtaining indigent criminal defense. Unfortunately, too many jurisdictions are pathetically underfunded for indigent criminal defense. The highest funding tends to be provided for federal public defender offices, which provide indigent criminal defense in federal court. Funding levels fluctuate radically in state public defender offices. Court jurisdictions also rely, at least partially, on court-appointed private firm lawyers, who are again paid radically differing compensation levels depending on the jurisdiction; the lower-paying jurisdictions make it hard for a lawyer even to cover overhead, let alone to derive compensation for the attorney's time. 

    For non-criminal cases, a wide range of government-funded and non-profit organizations provide free and reduced-cost legal services to individuals and organizations who would otherwise be unable to obtain legal services. Most jurisdictions have legal aid offices, providing, at the very least, services for divorce and landlord-tenant cases. Many law schools have free legal clinics. Many non-profit organizations provide free legal services, as well, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Washington Lawyers' Committee, and numerous other organizations that provide either broad or narrowly-based free legal services. To find such assistance can require diligent and wide-ranging inquiries, which sometimes can start with local voluntary bar associations, United Way-type organizations, and houses of worship. 

    Lawyers have a duty to contribute to equal access to justice, preferably through pro bono work, but at the very least through financial contributions to organizations assisting equal access to justice not just to poor people but to causes that rely on donations for legal representation. Even government lawyers and judges -- if otherwise prevented from performing outside legal work -- can do pro bono work through such activities as providing legal information and time to non-profit organizations, and by dispelling the mysteries of the law through public speaking and through publishing in the mass media. From a moral perspective, lawyers' pro bono duties arise because it is the right thing to do. From a practical perspective, the pro bono duty arises because lawyers are economically protected against competition through ethical rules barring non-lawyers from practicing law; lawyers must somehow pay for this privilege, whether or not it is a justifiable privilege. Moreover, from a beneficial perspective for lawyers, pro bono service is an opportunity to gain rewarding practical experience, can make a difference for the pro bono client and for justice, and  can make for a better lawyer.  

    JON KATZ, P.C., has a spirited pro bono practice, which has included advocacy for criminal defendants, demonstrators (including successful representation of anti-globalization defendants, peace activists, and a demonstrator for making the morning-after pill available without a prescription (see www.mapconspiracy.org/kelly.html)), Constitutional rights, and indigent immigrants. We have provided pro bono work to many individuals, as well as through such groups as the Free Speech Coalition of DC, MD and VA; Marcelino Pan y Vino; the Plowshares; PETA; the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education; and ACORN. We also volunteer our time to various organizations serving justice. Partner Jay Marks is past Vice President and Legal Counsel to Marcelino Pan y Vino, a major local community service organization, he provides legal information at free local law days, and he does continuing legal education work through such organizations as the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Jon is the founding President of the Free Speech Coalition of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, a past officer and board member of Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive, and has provided legal assistance for students' and teachers' rights through the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

    As much as people often complain about the price of lawyers, to proceed without one in a legal matter can prove fatal. Lawyers and society at large must help achieve equal access to quality justice. 

    JON KATZ, P.C. - DEVOTED TO QUALITY LEGAL SERVICE AT A FAIR COST

JON KATZ, P.C., believes strongly in equal access to justice for all. We strive to bill competitively and fairly, and each year we put in many pro bono and low bono hours in the name of important causes and equal access to justice.  

 (Rebroadcast courtesy Fox News.)

JON KATZ, P.C.

JON KATZ, P.C.
8720 Georgia Ave., Suite 703

Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

(301) 495-7755
Fax (301) 585-7733

jon[at]katzjustice[dot]com

Visit JON KATZ, P.C.'s homepage at www.katzjustice.com

Copyright Jon Katz, P.C.