A person using an orange calculator on a white surface. With at skylark our prices are not a secret written to the left of it in white and navy blue text.Initial One-Hour Consultation Price – $200

Jennifer Hawthorne Kelsey, Partner

Justin L. Kelsey, Partner

Beth Aarons, Of Counsel 

We offer a one-hour initial consultation for all of our practice areas.

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Free Initial Phone Call – $0

If you’re not sure if you need an initial consultation, or just want to discuss hiring us without a consultation, then you can schedule a free 10-15 minute phone call.

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Two-Hour Assessment Consultation – $600

If you’re not sure whether mediation, collaborative law, attorney negotiation, or court representation is what you need we also offer an Assessment Consultation. Our Assessment Consultation is not about hiring our firm. It is solely about evaluating your circumstances, conflict style, and needs, to help you choose the resolution process that is most likely to result in success for your dispute.  If you’d like to take an online quiz first to obtain more information about your options click here.

We encourage both parties to a dispute to attend these Assessments. Upon request we will agree that this Assessment disqualifies our firm from any further representation to ensure that our focus is only on the best process for your needs going forward.

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Hourly Rates for Skylark Team

Hourly Rate Services can include case assessment, investigation, information discovery, advice, negotiation, mediation, option generation, legal research, education, coaching, drafting, and court representation.

Hourly Rates for our Staff:

Collaboratively trained Attorneys & Mediators:

Jennifer Hawthorne Kelsey, Partner – $350 per hour

Justin L. Kelsey, Partner – $500 per hour

Beth Aarons, Of Counsel – $400 per hour

Some of the hourly services can be replaced with the flat fee services described further below, but many of them are too variable to offer for a flat fee. For reference we have also provided some of our typical hourly ranges for different services so that you can estimate your potential needs.

Divorce & Family Law – Hourly Rate Services

How much a Divorce or other family law case costs depends on how difficult the conflict is and how complicated the issues are.  In addition, some processes are more expensive than others:

Mediation Services:  While we cannot guarantee how many hours a case will take, our typical divorce mediation averages 10-15 hours.  We typically schedule one to two hour mediation meetings, and your card is only charged after the meeting for the total time of that meeting.

As an example:

If your mediation case takes five two hour sessions (10 total hours) with mediator Jennifer Hawthorne ($350 per hour) then the total cost would be $3,500 for the mediation.  If Jennifer also prepared the Joint Petition paperwork and Agreement this usually takes an additional 2-4 hours ($700-$1,400), then your total cost including the filing fee ($215) would be between $4,415 and $5,115.

LitigationNo-one can guarantee how much a case in court will cost.  One of the driving factors is how many court hearings are required.  A trial can easily cost $50,000 per person and often more, but most cases settle prior to trial.  At Skylark our goal is to have as many meetings outside of court as possible because these meetings are more likely to reach settlement and reduce the unpredictable costs of court.

As an example:

If a divorce case requires two full court hearings (a Motion for Temporary Orders and a Pre-Trial Conference) then each party should budget 8 hours of time for each of those hearings, and the same amount of time in preparation for those hearings (8 hours minimum each).  At an hourly rate of $350 per hour the cost could easily be $11,200 (32 hours multiplied by $350 per hour) and this doesn’t include the cost of discovery, advice, legal research, etc.

Attorney Negotiation:

For that same price you and the other side could meet 16 times for 2 hours per meeting.  Even if you allot 2 hours in preparation time for each meeting that’s still 8 meetings.  It’s unlikely that most cases would require that many meetings, even when highly contested, so the value of trying to resolve outside of court is obvious.

Collaborative Divorce: Just like the other processes, it’s impossible to guarantee how much a Collaborative Divorce case will cost in total.  A good estimate is that each 2 hour joint meeting will additionally take 2 hours of preparation.  If a case takes 6-8 meetings (average) then the cost is similar to effective attorney negotiation as described above.  However, the focus of collaborative divorce is on providing greater value to the relationships that are part of the conflict.  To learn more about the value provided in Collaborative Divorce click here.

QDROs & DROs – Flat Fee Services

Retirement Division in Divorce (usually via QDRO or DRO) is complicated and can often result in ongoing conflict after the divorce process was supposed to be over. To avoid this part of your divorce dragging on, we offer the following service:

Retirement Division Mediation Session (1 hour) – $500 – Justin Kelsey prepares QDROs and DROs for Gray Jay Endeavors, LLC and is an experienced mediator. Putting these skills together, Justin can join your case (whether you are in a mediation, negotiation, or litigation) for a one-time retirement division information and mediation session helping you get the retirement division right the first time!

Once you have an agreement or judgment, we recommend Gray Jay Endeavors, LLC for the preparation of QDROs and DROs. They offer flat fee preparation of QDROs and DROs, and hourly consulting services to ensure that Divorce Agreements contain the necessary language for the proper division of a retirement account. Visit their pricing page here.

Wills & Estate Planning – Flat Fee Services

While we offer flat fee services for wills and estate documents, these flat fees are for relatively simple estates only. If your estate is likely to involve estate taxation issues or complicated planning for different types of trusts, then we can assist at an hourly rate.

Simple Estate Packages:

Individual Simple Estate: 1 Will, 1 HCP, 1 POA – $1,000 total
Individual Simple Estate (w/ Trust): $2,000 – $2,500 depending on type of Trust
Couple Simple Estate (no trust): 2 Wills, 2 HCP, 2 POA – $2,000 total
Couple Simple Estate (w/ trust) – typically recommended for families: 2 Wills, 2 HCP, 2 POA, 1 Trust $2,500 – $3,000 depending on the type of trust

In the event you only need one of the typical documents we also price them separate if necessary:

Will  – $750 each
Health Care Proxy – $250 each
Power of Attorney – $250 each
Trust – $1,500 – $2,000 each depending on the type

Probate Filing & Mediation – Hourly Rate Services

How much probating a case costs depends on the size of the estate, whether there is conflict between heirs, and how complicated the issues are.  In addition, some processes are more expensive than others:

Probate Mediation Services:  While we cannot guarantee how many hours a case will take, we typically schedule two hour mediation meetings, and you are only charged after the meeting for the total time of that meeting.

As an example:

If your mediation case takes five two hour sessions (10 total hours) with mediator Beth Aarons ($300 per hour) then the total cost would be $3,000 for the mediation, plus any time necessary to prepare documents.

Probate LitigationNo-one can guarantee how much a probate case in court will cost.  One of the driving factors is how many court hearings are required.  At Skylark our goal is to have as many meetings outside of court as possible because these meetings are more likely to reach settlement and reduce the unpredictable costs of court.

Business Mediation – Flat Fee Services

Business Mediation Services – $500 – $1000 per meeting:  While we cannot guarantee how many hours a case will take, we typically schedule two hour mediation meetings, and you are only charged after the meeting for the total time of that meeting (hourly rate of the mediator multiplied by the time taken).

Jennifer Hawthorne Kelsey, Partner – $350 per hour

Justin L. Kelsey, Partner – $500 per hour 

Beth Aarons, Of Counsel – $400 per hour

This allows for very predictable mediation costs.  You can schedule a 2-hour mediation session with Justin L. Kelsey, Partner, and know that your total cost for that meeting is capped at $1,000.

Trainings & Speaker Fees
Justin Kelsey and Jennifer Hawthorne Kelsey, partners at Skylark, is available for speaking engagements and trainings.
 
Justin and Jennifer have participated as panelists and trainers in hundreds of training events, including presentations at MCLE, MCLC, MCFM, CDSC, APFM, IACP, DMTA and for numerous other organizations both locally and nationally.  They have spoken on a wide range of issues including interest-based negotiation, mediation, collaborative law, custody and support jurisdiction, marketing, alimony, and child support.
 
Speaker & Training Fees:
1-2 hour Workshop – $1,000*
Fully day or multi-day training – $2,500 per day*
 
*The above flat fees include all preparation time but do not include travel and lodging costs, which are also required for trainings outside of Massachusetts.  For non-profit and charitable organizations these fees may be negotiable.
 
To hire Justin or Jen for a speaking event call 508.655.5980 or e-mail us.
 
Consulting Services

Justin Kelsey provides consultation services at his regular hourly rate of $500 per hour to lawyers and mediators for the following purposes:

  • Litigation Strategy, Mentoring, and Support
  • Mediation Mentoring
  • Collaborative Practice Mentoring
  • Practice Management Mentoring
  • Marketing & Social Media Mentoring

Jennifer Hawthorne Kelsey provides consultation services at her regular hourly rate of $350 per hour to lawyers and mediators for the following purposes:

  • Mediation Mentoring
  • Collaborative Practice Mentoring
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We offer a flat fee (pricing described above) one-hour initial consultation for all of our practice areas.

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If you’re not sure if you need an initial consultation, or just want to discuss hiring us without a consultation, then you can schedule a free 10-15 minute phone call.

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