Prospective Clients
Becoming a Client of the Firm
A short, clear path from first inquiry to representation — and a plain account of what happens at each step.
Welcome
Most people arrive here with a situation they did not choose and a decision they are not sure how to make. Meridian Premier Counsel, PLC represents individuals, families, entrepreneurs and businesses, and the firm would rather you understood how it works before you commit to anything.
Becoming a client is a deliberate process with four steps. You tell the firm enough about your matter for it to be useful; you meet an attorney and discuss it properly; you decide whether you want the firm to act; and the firm decides whether it can. Representation begins when both of those answers are yes and an engagement agreement is signed — not before.
How It Works
Four Steps to Representation
Share preliminary information
Complete the Prospect Data Form below. It asks who you are, how to reach you, and what the matter involves. Sending it lets the firm check for conflicts and arrive at your consultation already familiar with your situation.
Schedule your consultation
Book a time that suits you. Consultations are available by telephone in three lengths and in person at the firm's office; the booking page shows each option and its fee before you confirm anything.
Discuss the matter and possible representation
You and the attorney discuss your situation, what you are trying to achieve, the options open to you, and what representation would involve — including the scope of any work and what it would cost.
Retain the firm, if the firm accepts the matter
If you decide to proceed and the firm agrees to take the matter on, representation begins when a written engagement agreement is signed. Until then, no attorney-client relationship exists.
What a consultation is, and what it is not
A consultation is attorney time spent discussing your matter: what has happened, what you need, the options open to you, and what representation would involve. The scope of any work, the fees for it and the next steps are settled there.
It is not the work itself. The consultation fee does not include reviewing, analysing, revising, redlining or drafting a contract or any other document, and there is no written assessment or revised draft afterwards. Those are separate legal services: they are discussed at the consultation and carried out afterwards if you retain the firm and the firm accepts the engagement.
Step One
Tell Us About Your Matter
Completing this before your consultation lets the firm check for conflicts and arrive already familiar with your situation, so your time is spent on your matter rather than on background.
Prospect Data Form
The form asks who you are, how to reach you, and what your matter involves. It takes a few minutes, and what you send goes straight to the firm’s intake team.
Opens the firm’s secure intake form in a new tab.
Would rather not use a form? Call the office on 540-369-8004 and give your details over the telephone instead.
Completing this form does not create an attorney-client relationship, does not mean the firm has agreed to represent you, and does not guarantee representation. Please avoid including highly sensitive or time-sensitive information until representation has been confirmed in writing.
Step Two
Schedule Your Consultation
Consultations are available by telephone in three lengths, and in person at the firm’s office. The booking page shows each option, its length and its fee before you confirm anything.
In-person consultations are arranged directly through the office by telephone. Subscription plan members and members of ARAG or CLC legal plans have separate scheduling arrangements — please contact the office rather than booking here.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
You describe your situation and what you need, and the attorney explains the legal landscape around it, the options available to you, and what representation would involve. It is a conversation about your matter, and it is where the scope of any work, the fees for it, and the next steps are discussed.
No. A consultation is attorney time spent discussing your matter. It does not include reviewing, analysing, revising, redlining or marking up a contract or other document, and there is no written assessment or revised draft afterwards. Document work is a separate legal service, discussed at the consultation and carried out if you retain the firm and the firm accepts the matter.
The attorney will not read through or mark up the document during the consultation. The consultation is where you explain the agreement, what concerns you, and what you need from it, and where the scope and fees of an actual review are settled. The review itself follows separately, if you retain the firm for it and the firm accepts the engagement.
Complete the Prospect Data Form and describe the matter in your own words, including any deadline you are working to. Do not send contracts, medical records, financial account details or court papers before representation is confirmed in writing — bring them to the consultation instead, or send them once the firm has agreed to act.
No. Completing the form does not create an attorney-client relationship, and neither does booking, paying for or attending a consultation. The firm has not agreed to represent you until a written engagement agreement is signed. Submitting a form does not guarantee that the firm will take your matter.
The firm treats inquiries with discretion and uses the information you send to evaluate the matter and check for conflicts. Until an engagement agreement is signed, what you send is not protected by the attorney-client privilege in the way a client's communications are, which is why the form asks you to keep the description general and to leave sensitive documents until later.
The firm reviews what you have sent and checks for conflicts of interest. You will hear from the office about scheduling or about next steps. If your matter is time-sensitive, book a consultation as well rather than waiting, and say so on the form.
The firm will tell you. There are matters it does not handle and matters it is unable to take for conflict or capacity reasons, and declining one is not a comment on its merits. If a deadline applies to your situation, do not wait on the firm's answer before protecting your position.
After You Submit the Form
- The firm reviews what you have sent and checks for conflicts of interest.
- The office contacts you about scheduling, or about what should happen next.
- If your matter is time-sensitive, book a consultation now rather than waiting, and say so on the form. Deadlines do not pause while a firm considers a matter.
- If the firm cannot take your matter, it will tell you. That is not a comment on its merits, and you should not wait on the firm’s answer before protecting your position.
No attorney-client relationship is created by submitting this form, by booking or attending a consultation, or by paying a consultation fee. Representation begins only when the firm accepts the matter and a written engagement agreement is signed.