LOW COST LEGAL ASSISTANCE IN KANSAS CITY

I've recently been thinking a lot about the cost of legal services and the people who get left out. Especially in regards to both Criminal Law as well as Family Law. There is a gigantic gap in the justice system.  If you are at or below the poverty level you probably qualify for Legal Aid or for the Public Defenders office. However, if you make a little bit too much, you don't get free services any more.

The Cost of Legal Services

Attorneys, on average (at least in Missouri) charge $285 per hour.  This places the cost of services outside of the reach of most people that "make too much money" for free legal services.  This means that there is a huge portion of population, low-income and middle-income families, that have no legal representation at all.  

I don't think that's right.

There must be a way to provide services to people in low and middle-income families that will not wreck their lives or leave them in a worse financial state than they were in before.  So, I have decided to start working to provide services to those people here in Kansas City (for now, on the Missouri side of the state-line).

It doesn't mean providing free services, I can't afford to do that.  But, it does mean providing people legal services that are appropriate to their income and family size.  For people on the lowest end of the spectrum that means charging about a fifth of the average hourly rate.  It also means helping people work on making payments.  It means providing access to legal, professional, help at fraction of the cost that people normally have to pay.

For me, it means making sure I keep costs low, it means making sure that I work efficiently and effectively.  It means making sure that the quality of the legal services I provide are equal to any one else out in the field.  

I think that there are a lot of people that need help, and I hope to offer them the service they need at a reasonable rate.

Good luck out there.