Client Guide

BUSINESS HOURS

Our business hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. Our offices are closed on weekends and all state and federal holidays. On rare occasions, our offices are closed for office functions. The doors to our building are locked at 7:00 p.m. on Monday to Friday and after 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and all day on Sundays.

OFFICE LOCATION

Our offices are located at 1001 Bishop St., American Savings Bank Tower, Suite 1570, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813. American Savings Bank Tower is at the corner of Alakea and King Street. In the American Savings Bank Tower, there are two sets of elevators. To reach our office, you need to take the elevators for floors 14 through 29. We are on the 15th floor.

COMMUNICATION WITH OUR OFFICE

Our firm’s policy is to communicate frequently with the client during the handling of any matter. This is to ensure the client is kept informed of what we are doing on their behalf. We send copies of all incoming and outgoing correspondence and documents to the client. If there are restricted addresses or if there are limitations on when or where we can contact you, please advise us in writing at the outset.

You can contact us in a variety of ways:

A)  Telephone.  Our phone no. is 523-7544. We have voice mail. You can leave a message on our voice mail at any time. Our area code is 808.

B)  Fax.  Our fax no. is 526-1231. You can send a fax at any time. Our fax is on 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Our area code is 808.

C)  E-mail.  Our e-mail is hchulaw@lava.net.  You can send an e-mail at any time.   You can also access our e-mail through our Website, http://www.attorneyhawaii.com

D)  Mail.  Our business mailing address is 1001 Bishop St., Ste. 1570, American Savings Bank Tower, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813. Mail is delivered daily except on Sundays.

• We check e-mails, faxes, and voice mail periodically during regular business hours. Voice mails, faxes and e-mails received after regular business hours will be answered during business hours on the next work day.
  
  
• We endeavor to respond to all communications and calls within one business day or sooner. If you call after business hours or on the weekends, we will, if possible, return your call the next business day. Occasionally, court appearances and meetings may delay our response.
  
  
• You may leave a message with any one in our office. If you leave a message, we suggest you advise the person answering the phone of the nature of your inquiry. This may permit a more efficient response to your inquiry. Please also indicate the best means and time to respond to your call and leave your call back number.
  
  
• You may leave a message with any one in our office.  If you leave a message, we suggest you advise the person answering the phone of the nature of your inquiry.  This may permit a more efficient response to your inquiry.  Please also indicate the best means and time to respond to your call and leave your call back number.

CONFIDENTIALITY 

Communications between a client and a client’s attorney are protected by attorney-client privilege and are confidential. We will not disclose anything about your matter without your prior permission. This privilege is not unlimited. For example, plans to engage in criminal activity are not protected by this privilege.

Communication in anticipation of employment is protected by the attorney-client privilege. The attorney-client privilege and confidentiality includes the attorney working on your case and our office staff.

Care should be taken to maintain the attorney-client privilege and confidentiality. Once the attorney-client privilege is breached, it is possible that we could be forced to disclose any privileged attorney-client communications. The client can breach the attorney-client privilege by discussing the subject matter of any privileged attorney-client communications with one who is not part of this protected relationship.

PARKING

Parking is available in our building and the rate is presently $4.00 per half-hour or any fraction thereof. You need to bring cash to pay for parking. We do not validate parking. We recommend parking across the street at Alii Place, 1099 Alakea St. Presently, the parking rate at Alii Place is $.75 per half hour for the first two half hours and then $1.50 per each half hour thereafter.

The entrance for the parking at Alii Place is on Alakea Street. When you are driving on Alakea Street, you are on a one-way street going towards the mountains. Stay in the far right lane. After you cross King Street, you will see on your right Central Pacific Bank building, the Central Pacific Bank office, Cen Pac Sundries, MIX Café, Star Bucks, the Mandalay Restaurant, a yellow fire hydrant, a light pole, and two newspaper vending machines. The steep driveway (surrounded by yellow posts) immediately past the newspaper vending machines is the entrance to the municipal parking at Alii Place.

BUS

 If you are coming to our office by bus, you may wish to contact Oahu Transit (848-5555) for the best routes and connections from your location.

BILLING

We bill monthly when a matter is active. This provides the client an additional means of monitoring the activity in the matter we are handling. Our billing cycle is from the 26th day of the month to the 25th day of the immediate following month. This means that all work performed through the 25th day of a month will be billed on the 26th day of that month or the next available business day. Any billable time incurred after the 25th day of a month, such as on the 26th day of that month, will be billed the following month.

There are exceptions to the above. For example, the billing cycle in December will end slightly earlier because of the holidays. We sometimes send a final bill earlier when a matter has been concluded earlier in the month.


MAINTAINING THE RETAINER AND PAYMENT OF MONTHLY STATEMENTS

The retainer is explained in our Employment Agreement. The retainer must be kept current throughout the course of employment. This means that as you are billed on a monthly basis, you need to continue to deposit enough money to pay the monthly Statements and to maintain the amount of the retainer. If you do not pay your monthly Statements and maintain your retainer, we can terminate representation.

RETAINER IN LITIGATION CASES

 In litigation cases, there are phases in the case when substantial work is done.  This occurs many times at the beginning of a case and in the months preceding trial.  It may be necessary to increase the amount of the retainer if your matter reaches a particular stage, and especially at least 210 days before trial.   An example of the increased expense is if it is decided that it is necessary to take depositions.

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS

In litigation cases, there are phases in the case when substantial work is done. This occurs many times at the beginning of a case and in the months preceding trial. It may be necessary to increase the amount of the retainer if your matter reaches a particular stage, and especially at least 210 days before trial. An example of the increased expense is if it is decided that it is necessary to take depositions.

RETURN OF DOCUMENTS

We return all originals, whenever practical, as we work on your matter or upon the completion of a transaction or trial.

DESTRUCTION OF FILES

Your files shall be destroyed after a matter is concluded. If you wish to retain something in your file, please contact us immediately after your matter is concluded.

DISAGREEMENTS

 We attempt to communicate clearly and in plain language to avoid disagreements.  Despite our best efforts, there is always the possibility of disagreement or misunderstanding.  We suggest that you be direct and contact us.  We will make every effort to respond and hopefully address your concerns. 

REFERRALS

Our practice is a general practice with a heavy emphasis on real estate and business matters. We handle many matters that are related to these areas. We do not accept matters outside our areas of practice. For example, we do not handle matters involving criminal law or securities. Call us if you are not sure about whether we can assist you with a matter. If a matter is not in our area of practice, we can often provide you with referrals to assist you in addressing a problem.

RESOURCES

In addition to representing a client on a specific matter, we also make additional services available to our clients. Our Website, http://www.attorneyhawaii.com, is updated periodically to provide information, resources and answers to frequently asked questions. We send a newsletter twice a year to our clients. The newsletter advises our clients of recent changes in the law, preventive measures, and other topics of interest. There is no charge for these additional services or resources.

 CLIENT’S RESPONSIBILITY

The client is responsible to keep us advised of any changes to their addresses and phone numbers during the course of our representation. We need to be able to communicate with you.

The client is responsible for immediate payment for the legal services rendered.

We encourage our clients to be forthright and candid about any concerns relating to a matter we are handling. Our ability to give a client the best legal or practical advice is dependent upon being informed of all the client’s concerns.

 

 

Copyright © 2009 by Harold Chu. All rights reserved.

The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.