Policies and Procedures for Clients

Welcome to the Law Office of Diane Chubb. Our goal is to provide our clients with the best service possible, all while giving them the benefit of our 20+ years of experience in the Trademark and Copyright field. 

Please note the following terms, conditions and policies regarding any and all legal engagement.

Engagement

No attorney-client privilege shall exist unless and until a formal Letter of Engagement has been signed, establishing that a legal relationship has been formed. The Agreement will specify the matter for which our firm’s services are being retained, the fees, and other essential aspects of the relationship. In most instances, a retainer is also required before work will begin on a specific matter.

Communication

a) Decision Making: Our team will make every effort to include the client in the decision-making process regarding its matters. The client will have the final choice for all decisions regarding bringing actions or settling a dispute.
b) Education:We understand that the law and administrative process can be confusing and appear overly complex. Part of our mission is to educate our clients so they better understand the services we provide. We encourage clients to ask questions about procedural options, strategies or legal concepts.
c) Office Hours: Our office hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, east coast time. Clients are free to send e-mail at any time with questions, and we will respond on our next business day. E-mails can be missed from time to time, so if there is no response within 24 hours, please feel free to follow up. Unless scheduled ahead of time, we ask that phone calls be limited to business hours.
d) Texts: We discourage the use of texts for official communication. Such methods are less secure, and may compromise the confidentiality of communications.
e) Contact Information: It is critical that our team be able to reach our clients. We ask that all clients keep us informed as to the most current mailing and physical address, phone number and email address. Failure to do so may result in our withdrawal from legal representation. 

Deadlines

Deadlines can mean everything in the legal world. Courts and administrative offices set deadlines that must be met. Failure to take certain actions by those deadlines may cause a client’s rights to be compromised, harmed, or forfeited. 

We do our best to advise our clients of upcoming deadlines. It is imperative that we receive instructions and authorization to move forward in a timely manner. Otherwise, rights may be lost. 

In some instances, we may require that certain fees be paid before action will be taken. If such a fee is requested, no action will be taken unless and until those fees are paid. 

No action/No liability: If we have advised a client of a deadline and do not receive instructions, authorization and/or payment at least five business days in advance of the deadline, our firm will take no action. Our firm will not be responsible or liable for any harm caused by the failure to take action absent client instructions. 

“Emergency” fee: Instructions received within five business days of a deadline may result in an “emergency fee” being charged, in addition to any other fees imposed by a court or administrative body. 

Payments & Billing
Fees & Costs

a) Attorney fees: We offer alternative billing arrangements. The method of billing, Fixed Rate vs Hourly, is determined at the time of engagement and the type of services needed by the client. Due to the nature of the work, flat fees are considered earned upon receipt.
b) Third party fees: Some fees are standard, such as US Patent and Trademark Office fees, and are not determined by the firm. Those items will be listed separately on the bill and are not included in the hourly or fixed rate.  If a third party is required for the scope of the work completed, the client will be responsible for paying for those services directly.
c) Costs: Client is responsible for any database charges, photocopying, mailing or outside services that exceed the scope of normal business. These costs are specific to the scope of work and performed for the convenience of our clients. Unless otherwise indicated, there are no up-charges on these service. Any travel, meals while traveling, or hotel accommodations will be directly billed to the client.d) Travel: If a member of our firm is require to appear for court, a meeting, deposition or other matter, travel time will be charged at 75% of the usual hourly rate.
e) Retainer: Generally, a retainer is required before work commences on the client matter. Client will be billed in advance for costs to be incurred, such as third party fees. When appropriate and required by the relevant state bar associations, these funds will be placed in a designated trust account. Upon completion of a matter, unused retainers will be returned to the client. Note: Flat fees are deemed as “earned” immediately upon receipt, and are not required to be placed into a trust account.

Billing
Invoices are generally sent on the 1st business day of the month, unless otherwise specified by the client. Balances are expected to be paid within 30 days unless other arrangements have been made. Outstanding balances that have not been paid within 30 days will incur a 10% APR late charge. 

Document Retention

Documents will be produced during the course of our representation. We will provide digital copies of all significant documents pertaining to the client’s case that we receive during the course of representation. Physical copies will be mailed upon request. 

During the course of our representation, our team may scan and digitize any documents and retain only the digital copy, except for documents which have independent significance that would be lost by digitization. 

At the conclusion of our representation, our office will retain a digital copy of client files. Digital copies of all relevant documents will be sent to the client upon request. Any documents not sent to the client within one year shall be destroyed in a manner that preserves confidentiality. 

No Guarantee of Results

Our team is committed to following all best practices and rules of professional responsibility as set forth by the relevant state bar association as well as the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. We provide our clients with the best representation possible, to the best of our abilities. 

Nevertheless, every legal matter is different. Because of the number of changing factors involved in any particular matter, our team cannot guarantee the results of any particular situation. Any predictions we may give are the best guesses at the most likely outcome.

Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice discloses the privacy practices for the Law Office of Diane Chubb and applies solely to any information collected by the website as well as information provided to our office.  

Your privacy is taken seriously and is used in several ways.

1. For business reasons: Information is collected so we may contact clients and for the fulfillment of work that we have been retained to complete.

2. Informational purposes: The nature of the law is that it is always in transition. New administrative rules, laws, and court decisions may affect client’s rights.

3. Marketing and Promotional reasons: From time to time we will send out promotional materials to inform clients as to the services both current and new that are provided by our firm.

4. Feedback and survey materials that may help us understand the needs of our clients and to provide better service.

Our firm is the sole owner of the information provided and we do not sell or rent information to any third party. All information provided is kept in strict confidence. 

Any sharing of information would occur in certain situations where we are required by law to share the information. Additionally, information may be shared with a third party vendor who performs services on our behalf. Such vendors shall be required to maintain this information in confidence and will not be permitted to use it outside those provided to our firm.

Our site may use cookies from third party vendors for marketing purposes and to provide relevant to our clients.

Our site may contain links to other sites. We have no control over the privacy of those sites and advise users to review the privacy policy of the linked site.

Questions?

Please contact a member of our team with any questions about these policies. 

Updated December 5, 2019