Consultation

Michelle Itkowitz has written many booklets and articles on landlord and tenant legal topics. Sometimes all a person really needs to do is to read one of Michelle’s publications to answer a question. Furthermore, reading Michelle’s work may educate you on the basics of a topic, thus making your consultation time more productive.

Michelle Itkowitz prefers that you email her, as opposed to calling her, to initiate a consultation.

In your email, please indicate if you are a landlord or a tenant (Michelle works for both) and what building your matter relates to. Before Michelle can speak to you, we need to make sure that her firm is not currently working for your opponent or potential opponent.

If your matter clears the conflict check, then please send some important information before the consultation.

Michelle is almost never amenable to looking at summaries prepared by potential clients unless the potential client is in-house counsel. Michelle very much prefers looking at source material, introduced by a short paragraph about the potential client’s goals. For example:

• If your matter concerns a residential landlord and tenant matter, then please send the subject lease chain and DHCR Rent Registration printout.
• If you are contacting Michelle about a commercial landlord and tenant matter, please send the entire lease chain and the guaranty.
• If you are contacting Michelle about doing your appeal, please send the lower court decision.

Having said this, in most circumstances, Michelle will not look at voluminous documents prior to or as part of a free consultation. If you send us a link to an online box filled with hundreds of documents, it is unlikely any of it will get looked at.

Before the consultation, we will send you more information about Michelle’s rates and her method of working. Michelle is not for everybody. Everybody is not for Michelle. The foundation of a successful engagement is a good lawyer-client fit. Reading some more detailed information about Michelle’s unique approach to this work will help you determine if Itkowitz PLLC is the right place for your matter.

If you have a consultation with Michelle, you should expect her to give you about 15 minutes of her time for free. Michelle may give you more time, without charge, if the matter interests her, you are nice, and both parties have the time.

Michelle never does in-person consults. That is a waste of everyone’s time. This world has too many meetings.

You should not expect the consultation to provide you with actionable legal advice. As Michelle always says, “Will you win your case? How do I know? If a lawyer can tell you will win your case merely from an initial consultation with zero in-depth analysis – hire him! Because that lawyer is psychic, and superpowers come in handy.”