Alan P. Caplan
Attorney at Law
Email: alan@alancaplan.com
© Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved. Member Massachusetts Bar
You have a constitutional right to discuss your case or matter with another lawyer at any time. You may also authorize other people to discuss your case for you or with you.
Please email me with telephone number(s) and time(s) that it would be convenient for me to call you (your local time).
I will then call to discuss your situation, and we can decide together whether I could be helpful in providing you with a second opinion. If it is your case that we discuss, our conversation will definitely be protected by the attorney-client privilege. We will also discuss my fee, which will be based upon the specific facts and circumstances of your case. I expect that for most matters it will range between $500 to $2,500.
Initial Contact
Please email me at alan@alancaplan.com, and include a telephone number or numbers, and when your local time it would be convenient for me to call and discuss your situation. I am on Pacific Time, and an early riser.
I will then call you back promptly (generally within 24-48 hours) to discuss whether I can be of help to you. There will be no charge for this initial consultation.
Among the circumstances I will consider in setting a fee are the volume of written, audio and video materials to be reviewed; the amount of legal research required to address the issues you raise; the number of people to be interviewed or with whom I must discuss your case; and the scope of your requested services -- written report, oral discussion, or preparation of court documents for filing.
You Have a Constitutional Right to Obtain Second Opinions from Attorneys
You have an absolute right to consult with a lawyer of your own choosing about a legal matter at any time, even if you have already hired another attorney. You do not need to ask your present lawyer for permission to do so.
Please understand that other lawyers frequently ask me to consult and work with them on developing the best strategy for handling a case or situation involving their clients (always with their client's knowledge and consent), and don't feel their role and position is in any way diminished. Such efforts include developing defenses, case strategies and tactics; reviewing discovery materials, wiretap and search warrant applications; locating and evaluating potential expert witnesses; drafting pretrial, trial and post-trial motions; selecting juries; preparing trial witnesses to testify; examining sentencing materials and presentence investigation reports; helping develop appeal strategies, including complex legal research.
Therefore, if you decide to tell your present lawyer that you intend to seek a second opinion, I would begin by contacting him or her to discuss your situation, get his/her perspective and also perhaps get copies of materials (not otherwise available) to perform my own analysis. Afterwards, to the extent that you wish me to do so, I would share my thoughts and recommendations with that lawyer as well as doing so directly with you.
On the other hand, if you choose not to tell your present lawyer that you have decided to obtain a second opinion, I will proceed very discretely in other ways to obtain the information necessary to help you. For example, in Federal Court most cases are filed electronically, and I am able to go on-line to retrieve large amounts of information from the courts' public records and documents, including dockets, indictments, motions, court orders and the like. Information about your case may also be available on-line or from various unofficial sources.
If you have any questions, please contact me to discuss further.