Charles Castellon | Orlando Real Estate Lawyer

Lawyer.com Member Questionnaire

Please describe a case(s) in the last year or two where you made a big difference.
CPC Law has helped many clients in the last few years avoid foreclosure and save their homes. In one case, we stepped in to defend a foreclosure with a final hearing approaching, negotiated a loan modification the clients could pay and helped a family avoid being put out on the street.

How did you build a successful practice?
I’ve built our practice by focusing on our “why” rather than “how” or “what” we do. Stephen Covey said “the best way to predict your future is to create it.” We help our clients create better futures through problem solving and planning (preventing future problems). The legal profession has become commoditized with do it yourself products and free information online and we’re over-populated. For attorneys to make a real difference in their clients’ lives, they should serve as long-term trusted advisors to help clients in many ways as well as to refer them to other trusted advisors in our law firm’s community. We don’t want to be merely a “one-shot” problem-solver for the issue the client brings us initially. Check out a further description of our firm’s philosophy and our “why” in this linked article from our blog. http://centralflattorney.com/help/why-we-want-to-serve-our-clients-bacon-eggs/

What should clients look for in a lawyer?
It’s been said that clients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Any good lawyer should put the client’s best interests ahead of the lawyer’s. This includes declining representation (and the fee that would come with it) when the client doesn’t really need the help or there’s nothing the attorney can do. The attorney should be thoughtful, professional and mindful of developing a long-term trusted advisor relationship with the client.

How important is local knowledge to the success of your cases?
In most cases, local knowledge is not very important. Of course, when handling lawsuits, knowing the local judges and often, the attorneys on the other side can be very beneficial in terms of helping attorneys know how to handle certain players in the game. In most cases, however, the facts of the case and law that applies will control, regardless of the people involved. The individual attorney’s skills and knowledge will always be important, but most cases are won or lost on their own merits.

What information can you provide in a free phone consultation?
We can advise potential clients of their options, worst and best-case scenarios and the likely costs involved with the various options. We can also offer an opinion on whether any given matter is even worth pursuing. Our firm will also honestly tell the client if we’re not a good fit for them.

What information do you need in a free phone consultation?
The attorney will need the basic facts of the matter—what happened? The prospective client should also be ready to state his or her concerns and the reasons for seeking legal advice in the first place. There’s more, but most of the other information depends on the given situation.

What differentiates you from other lawyers in your community?
The legal profession is broken in many ways and I’ve built and will continue building a law firm dedicated to creating the greatest value for our clients. My “BHAG” (big, hairy, audacious goal) is to change the legal profession. One example is our elimination of the traditional billable hour model. Attorneys collect fees in several ways, including flat fees, contingency (a percentage of the recovery) and hourly billing. The hourly billable model has traditionally been abusive to clients, even when the attorney is honest and thoughtful about the time billed. For example, the legal profession has created a world where the smallest unit of time in the universe is 6 minutes because our billing software doesn’t even allow us to bill for less than “.1” hour, or 6 minutes. Results include what happened to a friend of mine working with a fancy law firm to do his estate plan at the outrageous rate of $420/hour. He exchanged emails with the attorney over the simple question of his daughter’s address and that resulted in a $42 bill for what probably took less than a minute and an assistant could’ve done. CPC Law will always offer an alternative to hourly billing, including for lawsuits.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Helping people and making a difference in their lives, especially in times of stress or crisis.

What are your other interests in addition to law?
I don’t have much time to do anything but be with my family and sleep. I like to read and have a passion for self-improvement and will play golf once in a while.

Are you involved in your community?
I’m a member of the local Rotary Club and serve on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce. I’m also involved in my son’s school and recently applied to serve on the Board of the Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida.

• Florida Bar
  Rotary Club of Ocoee
  Central Florida Real Estate Council
  Hunters Creek Business Council | Board Member
  Central Florida Realty Investors | Business Member
  Orlando Regional Realtors Association | Affiliate Member
  Osceola County Association of Realtors | Affiliate Member
  Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors | Associate Member
  Kissimmee Osceola Chamber of Commerce | Small Business Council Chairman | 2015

• Affiliate Member of the Year | Osceola County Association of Realtors | 2012

Charles Castellon has been a Premium Member since November 06, 2015.
Lawyers with longer memberships tend to have more experience so we use the Membership date to help prioritize lawyer listings on search pages.

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FL State Lawyer Additional Information: Circuit: 9 Firm Size: 2 to 5 NY State Lawyer Additional Information: Judicial Department of Admission: 3 Next Registration: 05/01/2015

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