Peter Smythe, P.C.
835 E. Lamar Blvd.
Suite 264
Arlington, Texas 76011
Telephone: 214.697.4811
Facsimile: 817.460.9777

Read more information about Peter here.

We consult with clients by appointment only. Please know that a call or an email doesn’t establish an attorney-client relationship.

Initial Consultations for Appeals

Appeals aren’t the stuff of cookie-cutter legal representation. They are the high-end of litigation.

Very often, potential clients call us asking to schedule a consultation for a possible appeal. Frankly, we can’t properly evaluate the merits of an appeal in an hour-long consultation. While we’re happy to sit down with you so that you can meet us, we have to review the file in order to get a grip on what issues, if any, exist that may be appealable.

Typically, we can reach some preliminary conclusions after spending a day or two reviewing your documents and conducting the initial legal research. We require a retainer in advance for this, generally calculated at the hourly rate for one or two days of attorney time. After the initial assessment, we’ll speak to you about our conclusions. You can then determine whether you want to proceed with an appeal and whether you want us or another appellate firm to do it for you.

But, be advised, that this initial evaluation is just that, a preliminary assessment. Our conclusions may change after reading the entire trial record or conducting additional research. We might find new avenues to improve your chances of winning, or we may discover that our original theories are not worth pursuing.

Additionally, because we handle appeals throughout Texas and the nation (federal appeals), often there isn’t a need for you to meet us in person. All arrangements can be handled via telephone, internet, and overnight mail. Indeed, in a lot of cases, we don’t ever meet our clients in person.

Initial Consultations for Other Cases

Sometimes initial consultations are a bit tricky because we run a virtual office. With the advent of electronic filing and documents, we don’t usually need to meet face-to-face with clients to begin representation. Once a retainer agreement is signed, our clients usually send us the relevant documents via email and we get started. If a face-to-face consultation is needed for a particular case, we usually meet our clients at their place of business or at a mutually agreeable location.

Other Resources

You can find other legal resources here.