FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- I'm acting as my own lawyer. Will you work for me?
- What services do you provide?
- Who does the work?
- What is it going to cost?
- Do I have to pay up front?
- What do you charge for the initial consultation?
- How do I get a project started?
- Do you just do the research or do you write it up too?
- I'm worried about confidentiality and conflict of interest. How do I know you'll protect my client?
- Do you carry malpractice insurance?
- How do I know I can trust you with my work?
- You are more expensive than free-lance attorneys. Why should I use your service?
- What does "Quo Jure" mean?
- Who runs Quo Jure?
1. I'm acting as my own lawyer. Will you work for me?
No. We work only for practicing attorneys representing clients. Since we do not practice law, we do not work for any litigant acting as his or her own attorney (sometimes called pro se, or in propria persona), whether or not that litigant is an attorney.
2. What services do you provide?
We offer the full range of legal research and legal writing services. We prepare everything from short memos on a single issue to finished briefs to be filed with the United States Supreme Court. Among other things, we draft complaints, demurrers, motions to strike, motions for summary judgment or summary adjudication, trial briefs, motions in limine, motions for new trial or J.N.O.V., appellate briefs, and extraordinary writ petitions. We can also do surveys of law.
3. Who does the work?
All of our research attorneys have at least several years' experience; some have worked for us since the 1980s. They love to write and take great pride in their work. All applicants are screened, and only those with exceptional writing skills are hired. Since we have a much larger pool of available research attorneys than we can keep busy at any one time, we keep the best ones working.
4. What is it going to cost?
Just as the cost of a car or a TV depends on the year, make, and model, the cost of a research project depends on your request. Because cost varies so widely, we need to talk to you about the specifics of your project to come up with an estimate. For example, a routine demurrer or opposition might cost about $800, but the range could be from a few hundred dollars to well over a thousand dollars. Similarly, we often oppose motions for summary judgment for about $3,000 (on a routine basis), but we've done some under $1,000 and some for almost $10,000.
We charge by the hour, and rates are higher for rush projects. A routine trial court project is usually completed in 10 days to two weeks; a rush project might be completed the same day, or might take up to 5 or 6 days, depending on scope and complexity.
5. Do I have to pay up front?
We request a deposit of two-thirds of the estimated cost, and the balance within 10 days of receipt.
6. What do you charge for the initial consultation?
There is no charge for the initial consultation.
7. How do I get a project started?
Whatever way you find most convenient. You can initiate a project by telephone, fax, mail, or email. If you need only a memo on a single issue, just tell us the issue and give us the relevant facts. If you are opposing a motion, we will need the moving papers, the complaint and the answer, and any other documents or discovery materials you would need to prepare the opposition yourself. The attorney assigned to your project will call to discuss it further with you, and to ask for additional information that may be required.
8. Do you just do the research or do you write it up too?
We do both research and writing. We think of the research as subordinate to the writing—it's only the first step. Even if the research is right on point, it takes good writing to give it focus and power.
9. I'm worried about confidentiality and conflict of interest. How do I know you'll protect my client?
We understand the importance of confidentiality, and so do all our research attorneys. We hold all information we receive in strictest confidence. The information we provide to you is attorney work product, not subject to discovery.
We are also sensitive to conflicts of interest, and can check our database of projects to be sure such a conflict does not occur. It rarely happens, but if we're working for an attorney on one side in a litigation, we'll decline to work on that case for an attorney on the other side.
10. Do you carry malpractice insurance?
Since we are not practicing law, we carry no malpractice insurance.
11. How do I know I can trust you with my work?
Well, actually, you don’t, until you’ve used us and have seen what we can do. But the fact that Quo Jure has been in business since January 1, 1993, and that its principals have managed legal writing businesses since the mid-1970s may be reassuring. We have many samples of our work on this website, and reading them will give you an idea of the quality of our work.
12. You are more expensive than free-lance attorneys. Why should I use your service?
Quo Jure provides a service that free-lance attorneys usually do not. Every project is edited by an attorney with more than 20 years' experience editing legal briefs. If time allows, a brief will be edited by two attorneys. In addition to working on the final documents, the editors are also available to talk with research attorneys who need some backup in thinking through issues. Quo Jure also stands behind the work it does. If an attorney is not satisfied, we make every effort to correct any mistake.
13. What does "Quo Jure" mean?
The literal translation of the Latin "Quo Jure" is "by what law?" In old English practice, the Writ of Quo Jure was used to compel a person claiming common rights in land to show by what law he claimed them. More loosely translated, it means: What's the law?
14. Who runs Quo Jure?
Jim Schenkel: J.D. Hastings College of the Law 1974; A.B. Princeton University. Admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. Supreme Court. Founder and principal of Hastings Research 1975-1992. Founder and principal of Quo Jure Corporation since 1993.
Mary Donovan: J.D. Hastings College of the Law 1976; B.S./M.A. University of Detroit. Admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. Supreme Court. Principal of Hastings Research 1978-1992. Founder and principal of Quo Jure Corporation since 1993.
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