A short, candid first conversation. Then a clear scope and a clear price.

How we work isn't proprietary. The firms that frustrate clients tend to be opaque about it; we're not, because the model is the differentiator.

The first conversation is short and candid

Litigation matters start with the case-evaluation form — confidential, longer, designed so we can run a conflicts check before you share anything privileged. Transactional matters start with a 15-to-30-minute discovery call you can book directly.

The conversation does three things, in order: figures out whether the matter is one we can take, tells you whether you actually need a lawyer for it, and — if both answers are yes — sketches the scope and the number.

The engagement letter is the source of truth

Nothing starts before there's a written engagement letter. The letter sets out:

• Scope. What's included and what's not. The 'not' part is just as important as the included part.
• Fee structure. Flat-fee + costs for transactional work. Phase-priced flat fees for litigation. The number is in the letter.
• Pass-through costs. Filing fees, process server, depositions, mediator fees — itemized so you see what's actually paid out vs. what's our work.
• What we'll do if scope changes. Real changes get a written amendment with a new fee. We don't renegotiate by surprise invoice.

Senior-led representation

Taylor Darcy handles the matter. There is no associate-staffing model where a junior runs the case and the partner reviews at the end. There is no white-label processing team. The attorney who reviews your intake is the one who drafts your documents and signs your engagement letter.

The trade-off: we're senior, so scheduling is real. Routine work moves quickly; matters that need depth get the depth they need. We don't pretend to be a 50-attorney firm — but we also don't bait-and-switch a junior associate onto your case three weeks in.

Communication norms

Specific because vague client-communications policies are how engagements go sideways:

• The client portal is primary. Active matters live in a secure client portal — that's where you send messages, upload documents, and read written status updates. It creates a structured, auditable record that email can't, and it keeps privileged communication out of inboxes that aren't yours.
• Response time. Within one business day for substantive matters. Sooner for genuinely urgent things (filing deadlines, hearings). Our phones are answered 24/7 by a virtual receptionist who routes urgent matters to us.
• Status on long matters. Litigation gets a written status update in the portal at each phase transition. You'll always know where the matter stands without asking.
• Plain English. If we have to use a Latin term or a Code section number, we'll explain what it means. Legal jargon is for filings, not for client communication.

Billing

We bill the way we quote. Flat fees and phase fees mean the number you saw on the engagement letter is the number you pay. No rounded-up sixths-of-an-hour, no surprise invoices, no creep.

Pass-through costs are billed at cost when incurred (no markup) with receipts on the invoice. Fees & engagement has the full breakdown including how retainers and trust accounts work.

What we ask of clients

Honest facts on the front end — including the ones that hurt your position. We can build a strategy around bad facts; we can't build one around facts we found out about in the deposition.

Timely document production. The litigation phases assume you can produce the records you have. Slow production lengthens phases and lengthens the bill.

Decisions when we ask for them. Litigation has decision points. Sitting on them costs money.

Conflicts and the matters we decline

We run a conflicts check before any privileged information is shared. If we have a conflict, we'll tell you and decline the matter. If we have no conflict but the matter isn't a fit (out of jurisdiction, outside the practice areas, or a fit problem on either side), we'll tell you that too.

Declining a matter is sometimes the right answer for both of us. We don't take engagements just to take engagements.