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America Family Law Center makes Client Services available to paid clients in good standing. These services are subject to availability and may not be available in some states based on where your case is or will be located. Please call us if you need assistance, and we will be happy to see if we can help you. America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se service helps self-represented litigants with advice, guidance, and coaching from attorneys.
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Client Services is a defined scope of services geared to assist self-represented litigants who do not receive free legal representation (e.g., free legal aid) and do not have the resources to hire a full-service attorney in a traditional manner. Client Services can sometimes be thought of as falling into one of two groups: social-related services and legal-related services. Legal-related services consist of an Assisted Pro Se service and involve an attorney, but social-related services may not. All of the services offered by America Family Law Center are centered around its commitment to helping people with family law situations and resolving conflict and discord in a family structure.
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America Family Law Center makes the following Client Services available to its paid clients in good standing, through its Assisted Pro Se service offering. These services are subject to availability and may not be available in some states based on where your case is, or will be, located. This changes over time, so please call us if you need assistance, and we will be happy to see if we can help you. America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se service helps self-represented litigants get advice, guidance, and coaching from attorneys to achieve the best possible outcome for their case and do so on a limited budget.
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Some of the services included in Client Services may require a client’s account to be “paid in full” and have no outstanding balance before receiving the service, and some do not. Any money paid to America Family Law Center for services is considered earned in full upon payment.
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America Family Law Center does not operate like a traditional law firm that may hold funds in an IOLTA-type account and later apply those funds when services are provided. With America Family Law Center, clients pay a fee for the program, and the services provided under that program. If you are interested in having your money held in an IOLTA-type account, then America Family Law Center’s services program is not for you.
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Working with America Family Law Center does not create an attorney-client privilege relationship; should it be considered to do so, clients expressly waive their right to any attorney-client privilege. America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se services are not appropriate for people wanting legal services that would include an attorney-client privilege relationship. America Family Law Center strives to keep client’s information private and secure. If you are interested in having the information about your situation covered by attorney-client privilege, then America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se services are not for you. You may want to hire an attorney in a traditional manner.
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Client Services does not include: a guarantee, assurance, or representation of any particular outcome; an attorney going to court with clients; legal representation (being an attorney of record in a court case); drafting legal documents; filing documents; payment of any filing fees; process of service; fees for a process of service; private investigations; fees for investigative services; responding to discovery requests; subpoenaing witnesses; performing depositions; and others. Client Services may include referrals to some services not included in Client Services.
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People involved in an active legal case may need legal documents. Although America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se service does not include the drafting of legal documents, several resources are available to those who need legal documents. Several websites offer online forms or online legal document drafting services, like LegalZoom.com, ContractsCounsel.com, LegalTemplates.com, and many others. Law libraries are often a good source of information and forms, but some feel they need to be an lawyer to know how to use a law library. Attorneys will often draft documents for people. In some states, paralegals may be allowed to draft legal documents. Depending on the case, America Family Law Center may be able to refer people to a legal document service that will draft legal documents. People are encouraged to search online for document drafting services as these services may change frequently.
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America Family Law Center’s staff attorneys and trained legal staff work with our clients to help get their case or situation resolved with the best possible outcome. Many family law cases are resolved through mediation, agreement, or by default – most do not require a contested court trial for resolution. Outside attorneys are typically available for an additional fee when a client wants to engage such an attorney for a contested court hearing or otherwise (any fees for a 3rd party attorney are between the client and that attorney and do not involve AFLC). America Family Law Center does not prohibit or discourage its clients from hiring an attorney to represent them in their case, but any such engagement would be by and between the client and the attorney and would be entirely separate and apart from the Client Services provided by America Family Law Center.
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America Family Law Center’s Assisted Pro Se service is generally not appropriate for litigants with a contested hearing where evidence needs to be put into the record or where third-party witnesses need to be questioned – this is typically not appropriate for a self-represented litigant. Most people with this type of case should probably seek to hire a traditional attorney to represent them.
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America Family Law Center encourages those who qualify for and are granted access to free legal assistance from another legal aid organization or law firm to take advantage of that free assistance. America Family Law Center encourages those who have the money to hire a full-service attorney in a traditional manner to do so. America Family Law Center is here to assist those pro se and self-represented litigants in family law cases who do not get free legal aid and cannot afford to pay traditional full-service attorneys thousands of dollars, those in the Justice Gap.