Benjamin Smith

My practice is like a wheel, and the hub of the wheel is the trusts and estates practice. The spokes of the wheel are the practice areas that frequently intersect with that core practice – estate planning and estate taxation; probate and estate administration law; elder, health care and disability planning; real estate law; civil litigation; guardianship and mental health law; charitable gift planning; and, succession issues for family businesses.

Admitted to practice in Massachusetts, and several federal courts and agencies

FIVE RULES FOR EVERY ATTORNEY ENGAGEMENT

1. Your lawyer must be a good listener. 

2. The lawyer is the adviser, but the client is the decider. The purpose and goal of the legal engagement must be clear to both lawyer and client.

3. Lawyer and client must discuss and agree on fees. Clients should never be surprised by a legal bill.

4. Lawyers must respond to client calls or emails promptly.

5. Lawyers should always try to help their clients find the right professionals when a matter outside the scope of the lawyer's practice arises. When a client calls me with a criminal or a divorce matter (which I do not do) or a matter in a state where I am not licensed, I do not send them away. I try to make a quality referral, and get them into capable hands.