Consults – Intro
I do offer brief free initial consults on all seven days. These consults are now limited to 15 minutes. At that point, I will understand your issues (I have been practicing this area of law for 3 decades), and I will understand how to advise you.
However, I do not work for free and do not give out free legal advice. I will now require a one-hour $450.00 retainer to continue.
Consults – You Get What You Pay For
I believe that every prospective client deserves an in-depth consultation personalized to his or her particular circumstances.
Unfortunately, offering consultations at no charge would result in such a volume of inquiries that I couldn’t devote the necessary time and attention to either prospective or current clients.
Consults – Fee
The old adage is true in this case: you really do get what you pay for.
If you’re looking for a lawyer, chances are you have an urgent legal issue about which you have questions.
A lawyer offering a free consultation is not going to give you the answers or advice you really need.
In most cases, a free consultation is meant to be informational: to tell you about your situation in general, not to give you specific advice about your case.
Doing so puts me at the risk by potentially creating an attorney-client relationship, and it offers me no benefit or protection. So the likelihood is that a free consultation will end in frustration and wasted time for you.
The attorney has not had the time to get to know you or all the particulars of your circumstances.
This free advice could steer you very wrong and lead to legal outcomes that may take thousands of dollars and many years to reverse—if they are reversible at all.
In these circumstances, I do not have the luxury of time to sit through consultations that don’t address your urgent legal needs.
Free consultations are a way for attorneys to get potential clients in the door to sell their services. But they are often a waste of time for prospective clients, who don’t get the advice they are seeking, and for attorneys, who may devote hours to free consultations before bringing in a paying client.
If time were unlimited, that might not be an issue. But, of course it is, which means that if an attorney is spending a lot of time giving free consultations, the clients who have already retained him or her might be getting short shrift. Imagine yourself, not in the position of someone who might get a free consultation, but as someone already paying an attorney. Do you want your lawyer to spend time drumming up business from someone else, or working on your case?
I am committed to conserving my clients’ time and resources and to protecting their interests.
I am willing to forgo the clients we might be able to retain by offering free consultations in favor of being able to offer customized, timely, trustworthy service to the clients we already have.
Charging a reasonable fee for an initial consultation allows me my experience, accolades, and client reviews on the issues of clients who need and value my experience, rather than diverting that attention to individuals seeking free legal advice.
We offer an initial consultation at a reduced fee to allow prospective clients to get guidance that is meaningful to them at a fair rate and to have a chance to decide, at minimal risk, whether we are the right fit for each other.
John B Whalen Jr Esq
John B. Whalen, Jr., JD., LL.M., is an AV Peer Review Rated Preeminent 5.0 and Avvo Rated 10.0 Superb (obtaining over 95 client reviews and peer endorsements).
About John B Whalen Jr Esq
One Hour ($450.00) Consult Fee Paid In Advance • Home Visits • Flat Fees. 1199 Heyward Road Wayne Pa 19087, Serving All Surrounding Counties. All 7 Days • 9:00 AM • 10:00 PM. Evenings Weekends Holidays. jw60297@me.com. 1-610-407-0220.
Practice Areas
Pa Model Court Accountings. Pa Estate Administration. Pa Powers of Attorney. Pa Estate Planning. Pa Living Wills. Pa Last Wills. Pa Probate.
Serving All Surrounding Areas
West Chester Pa Probate Wills Estates Lawyers. Media Pa Probate Wills Lawyers. Norristown Pa Probate Wills Lawyers. Malvern Pa Probate Wills Lawyers. Ardmore Pa Probate Wills Lawyers. Wayne Pa Probate Wills Lawyers. Collegeville Pa Probate Wills Lawyers. Skippack Pa Probate Wills Lawyers.
Client Testimonials
Over 3,967 LinkedIn Profile Followers. 99 LinkedIn Peer Endorsements. 27 Avvo Peer Endorsements. 24 Martindale Peer Reviews. 12 Lawyers Client Reviews. 68 Avvo Client Reviews. Over 5,000 Reviews
Accolades
He is the recipient of the Legum Magister Post-Doctorate Degree (LL.M.) in Taxation (from the Villanova University School of Law), a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Wills, Trusts, and Estates, from the Widener University School of Law), and a recipient of the ABA-BNA Law Award for Academic Excellence (from the Widener University School of Law). He has also been named as an Awesome Attorney in the field of Estate Planning Law (by the Suburban Life Magazine of the Philadelphia suburbs) for the years 2010 through 2018, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Delaware Law Forum at Widener School of Law.
Speaker
Mr. Whalen is a frequent speaker and writer on the areas of Probate, Wills, Trusts, Estates, and has spoken for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, spoken at the Widener University Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and spoken at the Delaware County Estate Planning Council. He has also had his legal articles published by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Pennsylvania Law Weekly, the Philadelphia Business Journal, and the Martindale.Com website. He has had his law blogs published on the Lawyers.Com website.
Professional
He is a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the United States Federal Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is past president of the Delaware County Estate Planning Council, a past Internship Instructor of Conestoga High School, and Villanova University School of Law. He is a past member of the Chester County Estate Planning Council, a past President of the Chesterbrook Picket Post Condominium Association.
Practice Areas
Mr. Whalen concentrates his legal practice solely in the areas of Pa Estate Law, Pa Estate Planning, Pa Estate Administration, Pa Executor Representation, Pa Estate Taxation, Pa Probate, Pa Estate Litigation, Pa Ancillary Probate, Pa Last Wills, Pa Decedents Estates, Pa Powers of Attorney, Pa Beneficiary Representation, Pa Advance Directives, Pa Guardianships, Pa Trust Law, Pa Living Wills, Fiduciary Law, Inheritance, Pa Inheritance Tax, Pa Trusts and Estates, Pa Trust Administration, Pa Cemetery Law, Pa Tax Law, Pa Estates, and Pa Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples.
Client Schedule
Mr. Whalen provides legal services seven (7) days per week, including all evenings, weekends, and holidays.
Areas Served
Mr. Whalen serves, and has served, both individuals and attorneys in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Metropolitan Area (and throughout the country), including Chester County Pa, Delaware County Pa, Lancaster County Pa, Montgomery County Pa, and Philadelphia County Pa. He has served clients in Ambler Pa, in Ardmore Pa, in Aston Pa, in Berwyn Pa, in Blue Bell Pa, in Bridgeport Pa, in Broomall Pa, in Bryn Mawr Pa, in Chadds Ford Pa, in Chesterbrook Pa, in Chester Heights Pa, in Chester Springs Pa, in Coatesville Pa, in Collegeville Pa, in Conshohocken Pa, in Devon Pa, in Downingtown Pa, in Drexel Hill Pa, in Eagleville Pa, in Easttown Pa, in Elkins Park Pa, in Exton Pa, in Frazer Pa, in Great Valley Pa, in Haverford Pa, in Havertown Pa, in Jeffersonville Pa, in Kennett Square Pa, in King of Prussia Pa, in Lansdale Pa, in Limerick Pa, in Linfield Pa, in Linwood Pa, in Lower Merion Pa, in Malvern Pa, in Media Pa, in Narberth Pa, in Newtown Square Pa, in Norristown Pa, in Oaks Pa, in Overbrook Pa, in Paoli Pa, in Parkesburg Pa, in Phoenixville Pa, in Plymouth Meeting Pa, in Pottstown Pa, in Radnor Pa, in Ridley Park Pa, in Rosemont Pa, in St. Davids Pa, in Springfield Pa, in Strafford Pa, in Swarthmore Pa, in Thorndale Pa, in Tredyffrin Pa, in Trooper Pa, in Upper Merion Pa, in Valley Forge Pa, in Villanova Pa, in Wayne Pa, in West Chester Pa, in Westtown Pa, in Whitemarsh Pa, in Willistown Pa, in Wynnewood Pa, and in Yeadon Pa.
Martindale-Hubbell Ratings: Peer and Client Review Ratings
Savvy consumers hiring a lawyer count on online reviews to guide them. The presence, or absence, of reviews can have a substantial impact in determining which lawyer is hired. Martindale-Hubbell displays both peer and client review ratings on our websites. Peer Review Ratings provide honest feedback from an attorney’s professional colleagues.