“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs
One of the most common comments we hear from clients is, “Why does it have to be so complicated? My estate is simple.” Conventional wisdom is that lawyers avoid simplicity. At Foley & Foley, we help our clients navigate life’s complexities.
As the above quote from Steve Jobs indicates, it takes more work to keep things simple. The path of least resistance is to do nothing—often not the best result. Foley & Foley makes extra efforts to keep things simple for our clients. Some of these extra efforts include:
Education
We spend a great deal of time counseling and educating clients through our workshops and in our personal client conferences. When clients have a basic understanding of the law and the issues that will be faced by heirs upon the death of a loved one, the estate planning process doesn’t seem quite so complicated.
A Step-by-Step Process
Foley & Foley follows a simple process for assisting clients as they implement their estate plans. The process is thorough, systematic, and understandable, which means that details do not fall between the cracks. Every client goes through the same five steps: 1) Intake appointment, 2) design appointment, 3) delivery appointment, 4) funding appointment, and 5) updating and maintenance.
Internal Systems
Foley & Foley has implemented internal systems and procedures to ensure that plans and legal solutions are quickly and reasonably implemented. These systems also ensure that every member of the estate planning team—from receptionist to legal assistant, paralegal, and lawyer—remains in the loop and understands the current status of each plan.
Technology
Foley & Foley keeps up to date of the latest hardware and software technology available so we can:
- Communicate efficiently and effectively with our clients as well as other lawyers and advisors.
- Efficiently create and edit sophisticated legal documents.
- Organize, archive, and retrieve physical and electronic documents.
- Research and educate ourselves and our clients about changes in the law.
- Maintain, update, and respond to changes in our clients’ situations.
Simple Legal Solutions
The attorneys and staff are constantly looking for the simplest and most effective legal solutions to the particular problems faced by our clients. Because we have worked with hundreds of estate planning clients, we have the experience necessary to suggest ways to keep things simple.
Fixed Fees
We try to utilize fixed fees whenever possible to reduce the stress of not knowing what the plan is going to cost. When fees are fixed and not hourly, everyone—including the lawyer—has incentive to keep it simple.