We will obtain basic documents about you or your loved-one's case that are available online, such as docket sheets and court opinions, that give us an overview of the case, including what you or your loved-one were convicted of and sentenced to, which appeals have been taken, and which appeals and proceedings are still available to challenge the convictions and sentences (such as a motion for relief from judgment (AKA "6500 motion") or federal habeas corpus petition).

 

Once we have reviewed these documents and consulted with you and your loved-one over the phone or via letter or email about your case, we will then advise you as to the best options for proceeding, such as filing a 6500 motion or federal habeas corpus petition.

 

If you subsequently retain us to prepare and file the 6500 motion or other proceeding, we will give you a credit of the entire fee you paid for the overview case evaluation ($500) toward our fee for the 6500 motion or other proceeding.

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Overview Case Evaluation Fee:  $500

We will conduct a comprehensive examination of every document in you or your loved-one's case that we are able obtain, including all documents available online, all documents you or your loved-one send us, and all documents we are able to obtain from prior attorneys on the case and from the courts, including all transcripts, police reports, witness statements, prior appellate briefs, motions, petitions, etc.

 

We will examine these documents with a fine-toothed comb, searching for legal errors that could overturn the convictions and sentences.  We will also consult with you and your loved-one to find out what you know about your case that might not appear in the documents, which could provide a basis for relief from the courts.

 

We will also conduct thorough legal research to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the issues we find and their chances of success on appeal.

 

We will write a full and comprehensive report regarding the case, which will include all of this information together with an in-depth factual and legal analysis of the issues in your case, the current procedural posture of your case, and all your options for moving forward.  We will also answer any questions you have about our case evaluation and about the case after you have reviewed our written report.

 

If you subsequently retain us to prepare and file the 6500 motion or other proceeding we recommend in our case evaluation, we will give you a credit of the entire fee you paid for the in-depth case evaluation ($4,500) toward our fee for the 6500 motion or other proceeding.

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In-Depth Case Evaluation Fee:  $4,500

We will first conduct an in-depth case evaluation that includes everything discussed above except for the written report.  Then we will prepare, file, and litigate a particular appellate proceeding in a particular court, such as a 6500 motion in state trial court, an application for leave to appeal in the Michigan Court of Appeals, or a federal habeas corpus petition in the federal district court.  This usually includes filing a Reply Brief to the prosecution's Response Brief, and any in-court representation required in the proceeding, such as oral arguments and evidentiary hearings.  We will also contact witnesses and prepare any affidavits that may be required, although any additional investigation may require the hiring of a private investigator at your own expense.

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If the court denies the 6500 motion or other petition or appeal you retained us to represent you on, we will require an additional fee to appeal that denial to a higher court, if such an appeal is available in the particular case.  This is because it is impossible to know what the court's decision will be before it is made.  If the court grants relief, there will be no need to appeal, and we do not want to include the cost of an appeal in our fee if no appeal is necessary.  And if the court denies relief, it could do so in a number of different ways that will affect the amount of work we would have to do to appeal and, therefore, the fee we would charge for that appeal.  So we usually do not quote a fee for the appeal of the denial of one of our motions/appeals until the court actually issues that denial.

 

Contrary to popular belief, appealing the denial of a 6500 motion is not just a matter of re-filing the 6500 motion with the Michigan Court of Appeals.  It requires re-writing all the arguments to explain why the trial court erred in rejecting those arguments and adding any new caselaw that has been issued since we filed the 6500 motion.  It is impossible for us to quote a fee before we have a decision from the trial court because it is impossible to estimate, without that decision, how much work we will have to put into the appeal.

 

If you first hired us to conduct a case evaluation, we will give you a credit in the amount you paid for your case evaluation toward our fee for the 6500 motion or other proceeding.  For example, if we quote you a fee of $15,000 for a 6500 motion (which is our typical 6500 motion fee) and if you already paid us $4,500 for an in-depth case evaluation, you would only owe $10,500 for the 6500 motion.

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Representation Fee:  $5,000 to $20,000 depending on the case.*

 

*We offer flexible payment plan options, which usually consist of a down payment of half our quoted fee ($5,250 in the example above) and $500 per month.