Law Firm Overview

Our Philosophy: We believe lawyers should be approachable and understandable. They should be principled advocates and trustworthy counselors. With integrity and respect, our attorneys personally serve each of our clients. Our business is about helping people in good times and bad times. We recognize that your concern is important to you, and we want to help.

Our Office Hours: Our office hours are by appointment. This is so that we can give our clients our full attention and schedule plenty of time to facilitate effective communication. Also, this gives us the flexibility to make house calls and offer evening and weekend appointments.

Our Fees: Most of our fees are flat fees. We prefer not to bill hourly when a flat fee is appropriate. Our attorneys will estimate the value of our services, considering many factors like anticipated time involvement and the complexity of your matter. Because we know what time and work is involved in the simplest of certain types of matters, we do impose a minimum fees for certain practice areas. Before you sign a retainer agreement, you will know what our fee will be. You will often know by the end of your free initial consultation.

Our Practice: Although we primarily practice in certain areas of law, we are here to help our clients however we might. If you need help finding a legal remedy for your unique concern, please know that we do not charge a fee for the first one half hour of consultation for the purpose of determining if and how we might help you. Further, if we keep you talking during that initial consultation in order to gather needed information for us to make that determination, we do not charge you for the excess time.

In addition to our estate planning, probate, guardianship, foreclosure defense, and bankruptcy practice areas, our practice includes limited areas in family law (temporary custody of minor by extended family), civil litigation, real estate, business law, and misdemeanor criminal defense.

When you hire us to prepare an estate plan, you will pay a flat fee for us to create a customized plan to meet your unique set of goals. These may include: asset protection, family business succession planning, long term care, minimizing or eliminating estate taxes and generation skipping transfer taxes, organizing your affairs to make it easier on your loved ones when you pass away, providing for yourself and your spouse in the event of incapacity, preventing an inheritance from causing a disabled loved one from losing public benefits, etc. Whatever is important to you will be the fulcrum of your plan.

An estate plan may be simple or multi-leveled with foundational planning done first and next level planning done later. Our fee for a foundational plan includes the drafting of all documents necessary to implement your plan, as does the fee for each successive plan. These documents may include: Last Will and Testament, Revocable Living Trust, Trustee’s Deed, Enhanced Life Estate "Ladybird" Deed, Declaration of Health Care Surrogate, Designation of Pre-need Guardian, Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney (either immediately effective or effective only in the event of your incapacity), Special Needs Trust (Supplemental Needs Trust), Qualified Income Trust, Irrevocable Gift Trust, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust with Crummey Powers, Florida Family Limited Partnership or Limited Liability Company, Charitable Trust, Private Foundation, etc.

If you have a modest estate or are of modest means, we may be able to offer you a simple planning package at a reduced fee if it would be appropriate for you.

The attorneys of Adams & James, P.L. draw upon not only their legal skills, but also their professional and life experiences, in counseling and advising our clients. We are respectful of our clients. We care about our clients, and we want to help them plan for positive futures and to resolve burdensome legal issues.

We aspire to the highest ethical standards. We are here to help our clients in both good times and bad times, and we look forward to meeting you in person.

Areas of Practice

• Estate Planning
• Probate/Trust Estate Settlement
• Guardianship
• Foreclosure Defense & Alternatives to Bankruptcy
• Bankruptcy

Pro Bono Activities

• Each year, we accept a limited number of cases referred by the Legal Aid Society (OCBA)
• Our attorneys also volunteer in the community in several capacities

West Practice Categories

Bankruptcy Law, Estate Planning, Elder Law, Guardianships & Conservatorships, Living Wills, Powers of Attorney and Appointment, Trusts, Wills, Probate & Estate Administration, Estate Administration