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Our Contact Information

Our contact information is located at the bottom of this page. Please read this page carefully before you contact us. It contains important information about the firm and how we help our clients.

Free Consultations

Damon Kirschbaum, the managing attorney of the firm, provides free telephone consultations.

The purposes of free consultations are:

1. To help potential clients figure out whether we can help them with their legal problems, and

2. To help potential clients decide whether they want to hire us to help them.

We cannot provide legal advice during free consultations. Legal advice can only be provided after an attorney has gathered all of the relevant facts, researched all of the relevant law, and applied the law to the facts of the case. These things can only happen after an attorney is hired to represent a client.

Types of Medicaid Planning Cases

We handle all types of Medicaid planning cases: crisis cases, pre-crisis cases, and proactive cases.

1. In crisis cases, there is a current or imminent need for long-term care.

2. In pre-crisis cases, there is no current or imminent need for long-term care, but there is an expectation that long-term care will be needed in less than five years.

3. In proactive cases, there is no current or imminent need for long-term care, and there is an expectation that long-term care will not be needed for more than five years.

Most of our Medicaid planning clients have either crisis cases or pre-crisis cases.

In addition to Medicaid planning cases, we handle conservatorship cases, estate administration cases, probate litigation cases, long-term care insurance claim cases, and other similar cases.

Statewide Medicaid Planning Practice

We handle Medicaid planning cases throughout Connecticut.

Our main administrative office is in Manchester. We also have offices in West Hartford, Danbury, Shelton, Westport, and Stamford. All offices are open by appointment only.

Damon Kirschbaum, the firm’s managing attorney, Amy Kirschbaum, the firm’s director of finance and administration, and Cecelia Klotzer, their legal assistant, usually work at the Manchester office, although they sometimes work remotely. All other employees work remotely.

The firm uses secure online document management and collaboration services. This allows clients to transmit electronic copies of their documents to the firm. It also allows the firm’s employees to work collaboratively from anywhere. The firm can also help clients with paper documents by having their paper documents scanned.

We primarily work with our clients by telephone calls, video calls, and email messages. We are available by appointment to meet with clients at our offices.

Legal Fees

The firm’s legal fees are based on the amount of time that the firm’s attorneys and legal assistants spend working on a case.

The firm has a standard hourly rate for attorneys. The hourly rate for legal assistants is half of the hourly rate for attorneys.

The hourly rate for Damon Kirschbaum, the firm’s managing attorney, is higher than the standard attorney rate, although the firm does not normally bill for his time when he is managing or otherwise helping other people working on Medicaid planning cases.

Expenses

The firm’s clients are responsible for paying for case-related expenses. Typically, the only expense for Medicaid planning cases is a modest fee for a commercial printing company to print the materials that need to be submitted with applications for Medicaid for long-term care.

Security Deposits for Legal Fees and Expenses

The firm asks clients to provide the firm with a security deposit for legal fees and expenses at the beginning of the firm’s representation of the clients. The security deposits are kept in the firm’s client trust account. The amount of the security deposit is typically equivalent to 10 hours of attorney time at the standard attorney rate.

The firm is typically paid by ACH transfer, which is a fast, free, and secure transfer between bank accounts. If necessary, the firm is able to accept payments from credit cards.

Invoices for Legal Services

The firm bills clients for legal services at least monthly for work done in the prior month. Typically, though, the firm bills more frequently. With limited exceptions, the firm bills clients when pending legal fees are $1,000.00 or more through the end of the prior week.

The firm’s invoices for legal services contain detailed information about the work that was done, including complete time records of the people who did the work, the hourly rate for the people, the amount of time that the people spent doing the work, the charge for their work, and a detailed description of their work.

The firm’s frequent and detailed invoices for legal services allow the firm’s clients to monitor the firm’s work and legal fees closely to avoid surprises.

When the firm sends invoices for legal services to clients, the firm also pays itself from the security deposits for legal fees and expenses.

Replenishments of the Security Deposits for Legal Fees

After the firm pays itself from the security deposits for legal fees and expenses, the firm sends requests for replenishment of the security deposits back up to the original security deposit amount. Any unused security deposit funds are returned to clients at the end of their cases.

How to Hire Us

If you decide to hire us, we will need two things: a signed payment authorization and a signed agreement for legal services. We send authorizations and agreements to new clients using a service called DocuSign, which allows people to read and sign documents on their mobile phones and computers.