FAQs & Fees

Please email jennifer@blackhawklitigation.com or call (925) 648-2004 to request an intake packet. We will send it to you promptly, and once we receive it back, we will set up a consultation. We prefer to have reviewed the facts of your case prior to meeting so that we can maximize your time.

Yes. We charge a flat rate of $195 for consultations because Ms. King designed the firm to be low volume. She based this structure on feedback from clients, who frequently lamented their attorney’s inattention and unavailability. Our goal is to provide excellent service to a group of hand-picked clients. We want prospective clients to make a good-faith investment as we are making an investment of our time.

Time is billed in minimum increments one-tenth (.1) of an hour. Ms. King charges $495 per hour, her associate attorney charges $415 per hour, her paralegal charges $215 per hour, and her legal assistant charges $105 per hour. We bill for the time spent on telephone calls, e-mails, and other electronic communications relating to your case, including calls and e-mails with you, witnesses, opposing counsel, court personnel or other persons. Our staff may confer among themselves about your case, as required and appropriate. When we confer, each person will charge for the time expended, as long as the work is done is reasonably necessary and not duplicative. We charge for waiting time in court and elsewhere and for travel time, both local and out of town.

There is no way for an attorney to honestly predict the cost of a case. Certain factors (e.g. disputed custody, domestic violence, lack of awareness re-financial status, complex property division and complex spousal support calculations) indicate that a case will be more expensive. Other factors (the absence of minor children, little or no property and financial transparency) indicate a quicker and less-expensive case resolution.

We will require an initial deposit (e.g., a retainer) before we begin work on your case. Post-judgment modification cases require an initial deposit of $5,000. Divorce, paternity, and domestic violence cases require an initial deposit of $10,000. The initial deposit is not an estimate of the total anticipated fees in your case. Instead, it functions more like security for us to begin work.

The initial deposit is placed into an Attorney-Client trust account called an IOLTA. Interest from the IOLTA is paid to the State Bar of California. At the end of every month, this firm will generate a detailed billing statement of charges incurred in your case. At that time, the money for work performed will be transferred from the IOLTA account to our firm. Each month, you will pay any additional balance in the amount necessary to return the initial deposit amount to $10,000. The initial deposit will be applied to your final bill. If unused funds from your deposits remain in the IOLTA account at the end of the representation, they will be refunded.

Yes.