If you're looking for a few good reasons to hire a law firm, we'll give you "a couple."

Dan Willard and Madelon Willard are a husband and wife team with over 20 years' of combined legal experience. They are two of the attorneys who work for what we call on this website "the firm" or "the law firm".

We try to take the jargon out of even our contract documents negotiated with other attorneys, in order to make them easier for our clients to read without a law degree. So, for example, we use "we" a lot here to mean this law firm. Many of our clients say they appreciate it.

We fight hard and we fight to win. However, we don't violate the legal or ethical rules, so please don't ask.

We don't accept many types of cases, including divorce, criminal law or most multi-state securities offerings. Click on the "Services" button for more details.

You need to know some legal lingo even on a website. This law firm is "Daniel S. Willard, P.C.", the name on each of this site's pages. The law firm enters a written retainer agreement with each client. We bill monthly by itemized billings. All billing is due from your retainer balance upon receipt. Click on the "FAQs" button for more.

The firm is a "professional corporation" incorporated in April 1991 under the laws of the State of Maryland. Click the FAQs button for more on professional corporations.

In first meeting with us, some might initially be tempted to think we are "too firm" because we do not negotiate the level of our fees or the amount of the retainer. That person needs to think carefully about what kind of attorney they want.

If you select a new attorney based on how willing he is to discount his fees with you on first acquaintance or if he cuts his retainer or reduces his invoices just because you ask, how good a negotiater have you hired? Will he "roll over" the first time your opponant asks him to? That's not a bargain in an attorney, that's a disaster.

When we meet with you, we will evaluate your case and offer what we believe, in our professional judgment, to be a fair fee and a fair initial retainer. You are an equal partner in entering a mutual agreement and are therefore welcome to say, "no" at any time.

With the volume of work we turn aside to try to represent only the "good guys" and with the other obligations the firm's attorneys have taken on in the community, our reputation for which we believe benefits our clients, we cannot negotiate these fees.

We think that your most legally-savvy friend will tell you that you should look for a firm that knows the value of, and will not negotiate the value of, its time.

One can also look at it like this: what kind of business attorney would Dan have been in 1991 if he hadn't set up the firm with the same eye on limitation of liability that he would be providing to his emerging business clients? If he cuts his bill with you, he has no faith in the value of his time. If your attorney does not have faith in the value of his time, it's time to change attorneys.

So, remember, if you're looking for a few good reasons to hire a law firm, we'll give you "a couple". If you want aggressive, ethical representation at what we believe is a fair price, give us a call.


If you click on the "Feedback" button, you can schedule your initial consultation right now!