Reviews

Kristin Bailey is very experienced, knowledgeable and good to work with for your estate and will planning. I'm ready to work with her again to update my plans!

I recently employed the Bailey Law Group to help me start up my own business. I viewed the legal and logistical aspect of doing all of this as extremely daunting. Kristin and Co. did EVERYTHING for me. What I had originally expected to be a confusing burden became simple and even enjoyable. Thanks for everything and I look forward to doing more business with you all in the future.

I have worked with Kristin on a few different matters, and I cannot recommend her strongly enough. First, my wife and I worked with Kristin to put together a will. Kristin was so clear, so thorough, so professional, and so easy to work with. We thought putting together a will would be really stressful, but Kristin made the process so easy. We could not have been happier with the result. Kristin also helped me start an LLC, and she helped me through a not-so-straightforward real estate transaction. In both instances, Kristin again did an outstanding job. Same deal as the will -- clear, thorough, professional, and easy to work with. In fact, there were some urgent deadlines involved, and Kristin made herself available on short notice and outside normal working hours (and while on vacation!) to help me. Her help was invaluable. Finally, Kristin works with a great team. I primarily worked with Kelsey, who is excellent to work with -- responsive, clear, friendly, helpful, and just a joy to work with. So, to sum up, if you need an attorney for one of the practice areas that Kristin works on . . . call Kristin to represent you!!!

Working Kristin Bailey was an great experience. We came to her shortly before our second child was born having never done any kind of will or estate planning. She patiently and clearly walked us through everything making it such an easy and good experience. I can not recommend her enough - her professionalism, personal engagement, reliability, and helpfulness was amazing!

***If you don't have time for details of my full experience, jump to the last paragraph for a quick summary. I went to Kristin Bailey on referral from an acquaintance. She was a fantastic attorney to work with on an interpersonal level. Very clear, friendly, and adept at explaining the documents she was drafting for me. She’d get 5 stars if I was rating solely on her pleasant demeanor in the meeting room. That said, if you are in the same boat as me financially, the 3-rating applies. I went to an estate attorney, not because I have a large estate, but because I have bare minimal assets and a complex medical situation. I wanted protections in place to prevent my loved ones from being excessively burdened by my care or any complications related to my death. I figured it was safest to work one-to-one with another human. At the end of the first of three meetings, I asked if I should pay half of the package rate up front as noted in the attorney’s pre-appointment paperwork. I was told, “Oh don’t worry about that; we’ll invoice you later.” They added that there would be some “discounts” for me, so invoicing later would be best. Since they’d seen my entire financial overview and I’d just asked to pay a fee related to the package rate, I took that to mean that they might be discounting from the bar set by the package rate. That was a foolish assumption on my part. Also foolish: not getting the “discounts” language fully defined then and there in writing. My fault. The final bill came to over the package rate. The total before discounts would have been almost three times the package rate. This was a shock, but only because I’d been exceptionally naïve about the billing process. Within the meetings, at one point I was asked to sign a letter stating the attorney’s and paralegal’s hourly fees—over $200 and $100/hour respectively. Gulp. But they continued to make comments about “discounts” so I said nothing and signed the form. Exceptionally foolish mistake #2. I should have spoken up and asked what happened to the package fee, the amount of the discounts, an actual final number. I didn’t. In KLB’s defense, I think they’re truly honorable people. I don’t think there was anything willfully mean-spirited going on here. Just miscommunication and possibly a lack of knowledge about how financially-limited people live. If you are a person of limited means, don’t make my mistake. Realize that any attorney you work with probably has no firsthand knowledge of what it's like to be on thin ice financially. It’s not their job to know what that’s like. It’s OUR job to speak up for ourselves and educate others. Some tips that apply to ANY attorney interaction: • Rule 1: Get the PACKAGE rate in writing and signed by both of you, up front AND with a paragraph that states you have budget restrictions and need to know immediately if any services will exceed the package fee. • Rule 2: Rule 1 is great, but as the adage goes, “if you have to ask about the cost, you probably can’t afford it.” That’s hard truth. Perhaps create your own documentation first, using online templates. Then bring those in for review instead of having the attorney create your documents from the ground up. I think I’ll try that route next time. • Rule 3: Ask at the start if the attorney ever serves lower-income clients on a pro bono basis or sliding fee scale. Set your pride aside. Ask. I'll be swallowing my own pride, paying what my sister refers to as “stupid tax”, neglecting some needed medical care for this quarter, and seeing if I can use web templates or LegalZoom the next time I need fairly simple documents drafted. Final summary: Beautiful, lovely people at KLB. Really, truly. But SO expensive (no, not by New York and L.A. standards, but definitely expensive by regional Montana standards). If you're on a budget, look elsewhere. But if you have plenty of cash, no worries about budget, and want a full-service whole-team feeling, KLB will treat you very well. Good honorable people, just pricy.