|
About Willoughby & Eckelberry, LLC
General Information Willoughby & Eckelberry, LLC is located at 303 East 17th Avenue, Suite 810, Denver, Colorado 80203 Our telephone number is 303.839.1770. Our fax number is 303.839.1750. Office hours are 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. Saturday appointments are available before 12:00 PM. We accept Visa and Mastercard. The office is located in central Denver, at the corner of 17th Avenue and Grant Street. Street parking is available on 17th Avenue and on Grant Street. There is also a parking garage on Logan Street. There are also a number of outdoor parking lots in the area. Click here for a map of the area. Hourly Rates and Retainers Kim Willoughby’s hourly rate is $275.00 John Eckelberry's hourly rate is $225.00
Laura Koupal's hourly rate is $175.00
Initial Consultation Fee We charge $75.00 for a 30 minute initial consultation. If your initial consultation is longer than 30 minutes, we charge for the additional time at our hourly rates. You may do your initial consultation in person or over the telephone. We recommend that you do your initial consultation in person. Retainers If you hire us for Full Service Representation or for Collaborative Law Services, the retainer is generally $5000.00. However, we reserve the right to require a larger retainer if your matter will be particularly complex or contentious. If we believe we must charge a higher retainer, we will discuss that with you at the initial conference. If you hire us for Unbundled Services, the retainer is $500.00. If you hire us for estate planning services, many of the services are billed at a flat fee. We do not take cases on a contingent fee basis. We are precluded from doing so by the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct for many of the types of cases we handle. FAQs Why do you charge for an initial consultation? When you have an initial conference with one of our attorneys, you will be receiving legal advice. We charge a fee for an initial conference because we think our advice and our time are worth charging for. Additionally, once you have come into our office for an initial conference, even if you do not hire us, we are forever more precluded from representing someone with interests adverse to yours. We believe that loss of potential business is worth charging for. What if I don’t use my full retainer? If you do not use your entire retainer for any reason, it will be refunded to you. You will receive your refunded retainer with your last bill. You will not receive any interest on the amount of the unused retainer. We are required by the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct to keep your retainer in a non-interest bearing COLTAF account. What Is Full Service Representation? Full Service Representation is what people traditionally think of when they consider hiring an attorney. The attorney fully represents a client and handles all aspects of a case, such as preparing pleadings, communicating with opposing counsel, communicating with the court, hiring experts and appearing in court. What Is Unbundled Services? Unbundled Services representation involves hiring an attorney to be a consultant or to do discrete tasks, such as prepare a pleading or a contract. The attorney will advise the client regarding his or her case, and may prepare some pleadings, but the attorney will not enter an appearance with the court or communicate with opposing counsel. To outsiders, the client appears to be representing his or herself. When you hire an attorney to provide Unbundled Services, the client is solely responsible for meeting all court deadlines, for filing the appropriate pleadings, for fully and truthfully meeting discovery requests, for communicating with the court and opposing counsel, and for general management of the case. People who are using a mediator have the most success with Unbundled Services. The client is able to have an advocate to analyze the case and give legal advice. However, the attorney’s role is limited. Therefore, the client can keep complete control over the case, and the client knows exactly how much time is being spent by the attorney on the case. We will not provide Unbundled Services in some circumstances, however. We will not consult with clients on how to handle a contested trial. We will not provide Unbundled Services if a case is particularly complex, or if domestic violence is an issue. What Is Collaborative Law? Collaborative Law is a cooperative, voluntary conflict resolution vehicle. It is most often used in contested family law cases, such as divorce or post-decree matters. Each person retains his or her own attorney who is a trained Collaborative Law provider. At the outset, parties agree that they will use the Collaborative process to resolve their differences, and they will not go to court to resolve issues. The attorneys advise and assist the parties in negotiating an agreement on all issues. Settlement is the only agenda for the attorneys and parties. Once reached, the parties’ agreements will be presented to the court to be adopted as an order of the court. The essence of Collaborative Law is a shared belief of the participants that it is in the best interests of the parties and their children to commit themselves to settling all issues and avoiding litigation. The main goal is to minimize, if not eliminate, the negative economic, social and emotional consequences of protracted litigation to the participants and their children. People who participate in Collaborative Law recognize that a divorce does not end a couple’s relationship if they have children together. The couple will still have to co-parent the children, and will have to interact for years to come. Those who choose Collaborative Law want to avoid high emotional and financial costs of litigation and preserve a working relationship. | 
