For Professionals
If you are a Certified Financial Planner™
practitioner,
Investment Advisor, Financial Consultant, Insurance Professional,
Certified Public Accountant, Tax Advisor or other professional
consultant, whose client is already working with our office or you are
interested in referring a client to us, rest assured that we will work
closely with you to meet the needs and best interests of your client.
The Planning Team
In a transactional law practice such as ours, we
believe it is imperative that we work closely with our clients'
professional advisors. The team approach provides clients with the most
sophisticated, comprehensive, and effective estate and business planning
possible. To that end, we encourage our clients to invite their
Professional Advisors into the planning process. Moreover, once
involved, we strive to keep the professional advisors well informed and
fully involved at all stages of the process.
The Process
- Step One: The Initial Consultation
We offer all prospective clients a
complimentary initial consultation. With a client's permission, we
encourage their professional advisors to attend this initial
consultation as appropriate. If this cannot be arranged, we will
seek the client's permission for us to discuss their business and
estate planning needs with their advisors after the first meeting as
appropriate.
During the first meeting with the client
and their advisor, we expect to spend approximately an hour
listening to the client's needs, plans and goals, after which we
will generally provide a preliminary analysis and recommendations to
meet the expressed needs. If the situation is complex, further
review and research may be necessary to be followed by a second
meeting to present a plan summary with specific recommendations.
After making recommendations, we will
generally be in a position to quote a flat fee for the services
and/or documentation as recommended. The client then may choose to
engage our firm by signing an engagement letter in which an initial
deposit toward the anticipated fees and costs may be required; or
the client may choose to take some time to reflect before moving
ahead.
- Step Two: Plan Implementation
Should the client choose to engage our firm
and after signing and returning our engagement letter we will begin
implementation of the plan and where appropriate draft documents
will be sent to the client for review...normally within a week to
ten days. Thereafter, further meetings as appropriate will be
scheduled for review and implementation of the plan as initially
agreed.
- Step Three: Follow-Up
We believe that appropriate follow-up
procedures and communication helps build stronger client
relationships. Each of our clients will receive a follow-up letter
after their plan or project is completed. Every few years they will
receive a personal letter encouraging them to come in to review
their situation and consider appropriate changes or additions to
their ongoing action plans.
Resources
- Client Education
Please visit our Client
Resource Center for an online library of articles on various
issues of interest. Most of those relate to the area of estate
planning, which is more easily generalized than is the case for
Business and Real Estate issues. A number of the articles as posted
are suitable for use by other professional advisors as hand-outs to
their clients.
- Joint Marketing
We are happy to work with other
professional advisors to speak to their clients or prospects on
business, real estate and estate planning issues as may be of
interest, including basic estate and business succession planning,
or asset protection. Please call the office if you would like to
plan a workshop.
|
