schedule a consultation

Your first meeting with an immigration attorney is an opportunity for you to:

• get to know the attorney and determine if the firm is a good fit for your goals;
• share your goals with the attorney: for example, avoiding deportation, gaining legal status, applying for citizenship, or bringing a family member to the US;
• receive a thorough analysis and explanation of your options;
• learn about how the immigration process will work for you;
• understand legal fees, what they include, and how you will make payments.

Sometimes at the consultation appointment, it doesn’t take long to determine what your best option is. When this happens, the attorney can quickly move on to explaining the process, answering your questions, quoting a fee, and sending you a contract to get started.

Some consultation appointments are more complex, and the attorney will ask many questions about your family, employment, and any criminal history. We may also need to review your immigration records – if you already have them, great. Please send them before the appointment so we can make the most of our time. If not, we can help you obtain them.

The more information you share with us in advance, the better we can help you!

If you go to a doctor, she can assess your needs more quickly if she has your past medical records. She may need to run test to diagnose your problem and recommend the best solution.  It’s the same with an attorney. We can analyze your problem and find a solution quicker if you:

• Answer our screening questions completely and honestly. If it turns out that we don’t handle your type of case, we can quickly refer you to another attorney who would be a better fit, and refund your fee.
• Provide copies of all your records in advance, if you have them. This includes:
  • Any previous immigration records (for example, copies of an application you already filed and any receipts or notices, a judge’s decision on your case, a request for evidence you received from USCIS)
  • Any criminal records (for example, police reports, charging documents, and final dispositions for any case where you have had to go to court or where you were the victim of a crime, EVEN if the case was dismissed / expunged / sealed).
  • If you don’t already have these records, we can help you get them – but you can save yourself time and money if you give them to us before your appointment. Call your previous attorneys and request a full copy of your file.  Call any court where you have had a case, and request a copy of any available records.
• Know your history. For example, we will always ask for a list of times you have come to the US, how you arrived, when you left, and how you returned. We will also ask you if anyone has ever filed paperwork for you, your parents, or your spouse. If you don’t know, ask your family before the consultation.
• Answer the team’s questions fully and honestly. The more information you share with us, the better we can analyze your situation and avoid surprises in the future.
• Ask questions.  Don’t be shy if you want to bring a list or take notes!

You’ll notice during your consultation that the attorney will not answer other calls or work on other cases. You will have her full attention.  The fee ensures that the attorney and her team are compensated fairly for their time and expertise.

A “quick question” often has a complex answer, or requires complex analysis to get to a simple answer.  An hour consultation ensures that we have enough time to properly analyze your case, answer your follow-up questions, explain the process, and quote a fair legal fee.

If you have additional questions about the consultation process please feel free to call our office at 901 587 8667, or email catalina@axelrodlaw.com. 

The consultation fee reflects the value of reserving the attorney’s time, and the value of the analysis and advice you receive during your appointment. 

If you need to reschedule or cancel your consultation, you may use the link in the confirmation email you received, or you may call us at 901 587 8667.  If you give notice of cancellation more than 24 hours before your appointment, will refund the full amount of the consultation minus a $50 processing fee upon request.

If you do not attend your consultation and do not give us any advance warning, we will not refund the consultation fee. 

If you must reschedule more than once, we reserve the right to charge an additional fee.

The consultation fee is separate from any legal fee we may quote for your case. However, we are sometimes able to credit the consultation fee to your legal fee if you hire within 30 days or if you are a returning client. You may ask the attorney at your consultation.

No. At this time our consultation appointments are by phone or Zoom (videocall).  Our team often works remotely, and we value the safety of our clients and staff during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We do meet with our clients in person for court hearings, interviews, and other sensitive conversations as needed.

Our system accepts all major credit cards and debit cards for the consultation fee through Stripe, a secure and PCI compliant platform. We do not share or save your payment information on Stripe.

If you do not have a credit or debit available, you may buy a prepaid VISA card at a local store. 

Once you are an Axelrod Immigration Law client, we are also able to accept bank transfer, checks, and money orders, as well as cash from local clients.  For current client payments we use LawPay, which is also a secure and PCI-compliant platform which stores payment information only with your consent.

The consultation fee is listed in US dollars.

Axelrod Immigration Law is committed to protecting the privacy of confidential and personal information, and to comply with the rules of professional conduct.

The firm collects personal information in the course of providing legal services to clients and as provided by visitors to our website. We may use that information:

• to contact you and respond to your requests and inquiries
• to personalize your visit and use of our Internet Services and to assist you while you use those services
• to carry out, monitor and analyze our business or website operations
• to provide you with legal services, if you are or become a client of the firm
• to comply with applicable laws, regulations, guidance or professional obligations that we may be subject to, including anti-money laundering requirements.

Confidentiality, Security, and Retention of Personal Information

We maintain reasonable and appropriate, albeit not infallible, physical, electronic and procedural safeguards intended to maintain the confidentiality of Personal Information, including that provided by a visitor to this website and provided while using other Internet Services. We do not guarantee that our safeguards will always work.

We require consultants, suppliers and vendors to maintain data protections consistent with reasonable and appropriate obligations of data processors, including, where applicable, European Union’s data protection laws and regulations.

We may retain information you provide, including Personal Information, for as long as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, or to achieve the purposes for which the information was originally collected and for the purposes described in the Statement and in our applicable policies. If you wish to obtain more details on our information practices, please refer to the “Contact Us” section below.

Disclosure and Transfer of Personal Information

We do not disclose any Personal Information to unrelated parties outside of the firm except in limited circumstances. Such circumstances include disclosures to our agents or data processors or other contractors acting on our behalf and at our direction, subject to appropriate confidentiality, privacy and information security commitments provided by the receiving party, or where we believe it necessary to provide a service which you have requested, or as permitted or required by law, or as otherwise authorized or directed by you. Consistent with our professional obligations, we may provide Personal Information to regulatory authorities and law enforcement officials in accordance with applicable law or when we otherwise believe in good faith that the provision of such information is required or permitted by law, such as in connection with the investigation or assertion of our legal defenses or for our compliance matters.

Your European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) Data Protection Rights

Under EU and UK data protection laws (UK GDPR/2018 Data Protection Act and EU GDPR), individuals may have certain data protection rights which may be subject to limitations and/or restrictions and which includes: (i) the right to request access to and, rectification or erasure of your Personal Information; and (ii) the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your Personal Information. You may also have a right to object to processing of your Personal Information where carried out for our legitimate interest or direct marketing. To exercise your rights under this Privacy Policy, please send us your request using the “Contact Us” section below.

Individuals may also have a right to lodge a complaint about the processing of their Personal Information with their local data protection authority.

Changes

We reserve the right to change this Statement at any time without advance notice. Should any new policy go into effect for our Internet Services, the firm will post it on this website and relevant Internet Services.

Contact Us

If you have any questions relating to our use of your Personal Information please Lily Axelrod at lily@axelrodlaw.com, or by mail at 6584 Poplar Ave, 2^nd Floor, Memphis TN 38138.