A Few Ways Hadley Law Firm LLC is Different

Here are a few ways this law firm is different from most—and these aren't the only ones:

Electronic Collaboration AND LEGAL TECHNOLOGY: We kill fewer trees—but it's not about the trees.

Electronic document management, imaging, project management, collaboration and other technologies that were only available to large firms (if to anyone) just ten years ago are now available to smaller firms. With a few specific exceptions, the firm maintains no paper files. If you want online access to your documents, we’re able and happy to provide it. The firm uses NetDocuments for document management and works with clients who use various collaboration technologies of their own. For higher-security email communication, we offer email encryption through Virtru and Microsoft Office 365 Message Encryption for those who request it. The firm uses Adobe Sign and DocuSign to do business, and when contracting parties are willing and the law allows it, we coordinate electronic signings for clients as well. We're continually on the lookout for new technologies to enhance our services and streamline clients' projects, looking forward to an exciting new wave of legal technologies emerging in the next few years.

CONTRACT DRAFTING IN ENGLISH: AGreements FOR HUMANS.

When the firm's work for a client includes new document preparation, we place a premium on clarity and readability.

As much as practicable, contracts should be written so the people who actually have to implement them can understand them. This doesn't necessarily mean "plain English" is called for—in a sophisticated business transaction, sophisticated business concepts and terms will be needed, and careful drafting is still critical. Even so, many contract forms miss the mark. No contract needs, or should contain, law Latin or other archaic language. Not every sentence needs to be built around the verb “shall.” A paragraph with three or four sentences should not take up an entire page. There is such a thing as too many semicolons.

Predictable Pricing: Minimizing surprises.

The firm offers project- or task-based pricing for many kinds of services. In project-based pricing, we break the project down into phases, identify options and contingencies, and prepare a pricing statement that explains what is included and excluded. The price is allocated among the phases of the project and due in progress payments when specified milestones are achieved. If the legal work needed for the project changes, we'll agree on the change in the work and the price before proceeding with the work. Task-based pricing involves establishing an agreed price for a particular task, and can be preferable for simpler projects.

Sometimes an hourly rate is still the best way to go. Hourly rates remain a good option when the firm's work will involve ongoing services to support numerous smaller projects or a variety of unrelated tasks, when a project needs a quick response and the schedule doesn't allow time to develop and agree to a defined scope of work, in dispute resolution projects, or when the legal or business requirements for a project are uncertain. So, the firm offers hourly billing as well as project pricing.