The Stone Law Firm
New Client Information
Introduction
Now that you have signed your Retainer Agreement, please take the time to familiarize with the operation of the firm.
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You need to be aware of:
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- The best means of communicating with The Stone Law Firm
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- How to access your Box cloud file
- How to manage your billing portal and make recurring payments
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- Scheduling case update calls
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- Scheduling web conference discovery review meetings
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- Reminders of court hearings and prehearing call meetings
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- An understanding of the different type of court hearings and approximately how long it will take to bring a case to completion
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Access to Box
Cloud File​
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The Stone Law Firm has partnered with Box.com, a leading cloud document provider.
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When you retain The Stone Law Firm, a cloud file will be created for your case on Box.com You will receive an email from Box.com inviting you to join your cloud file. If the invite does not appear in your inbox, please check your junk mail box.
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Once you join your file, you will have access to the entire content on your cloud file. You will be able to view and take notes on police reports and police statements, and view any videos. You are welcome to upload any information important to the case.
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For a video explaining how box.com works, click here.
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Court/Appointment Reminders
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The firm uses an auto reminder system to remind you of every court date and meeting. You will receive a text message at the time the court appt is added to the firm's calendar. You will receive a series of notifications via email and text message about 21 days prior to your court hearing. Clients will also be invited to schedule a prehearing call with the attorney 7 days prior to every hearing.
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The reminders might seem excessive, but if a cell phone number changes, or an email inbox goes unchecked or if a reminder email is sent to your junk folder, the firm wants to contact you in as many different ways as possible to ensure you are aware of appointments and court dates.
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In addition, if you do not appear in court, it is likely that a bench warrant will issue, which can be difficult to recall.
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Recurring Payments: The Stone Law Firm Payment Portal
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​The firms accepts payments by cash, check or credit card.
For recurring payments by card, The Stone Law Firm creates a personalized web portal for 24/7 customer access. On the portal you can check balance, transaction history, put a card on file for recurring payments, and make a payment.
Your first payment is due 30 days after your down payment. You will receive an email with instructions when your personalized payment portal is created.
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The link to the portal can be found here. Please bookmark this link.
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If you are having problems logging in for the first time to your payment portal, a troubleshooting video can be found here.
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Communication
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Edward Stone is frequently in court and/or meeting with clients, the best means of contact is text messaging on The Stone Law Firm group text that was created during your initial consult with the firm. It is rare during a business day that Edward Stone will be available to pick up a call. If Edward is unavailable to respond due to court obligations, his paralegal Carrie can frequently respond and answer many questions.
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Attorney Edward Stone:
Cell: (435) 640-5810
email: edward@stonelawfirm.net
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Paralegal Carrie Shin:
Cell: (435) 800-9075
Email: carrie@stonelawfirm.net
Click on or scan the QR Code with your cell phone camera to add Edward Stone to your contacts:
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We routinely use group texting between our legal team and client so there is a high level of continuity and coordination.
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As a client of The Stone Law Firm you can expect a response to a text message from Edward or Carrie within two business hours. If you call and leave a voicemail, you can expect return communication by the end of the day. If you do not receive a prompt response due to case volume and unforeseen circumstances, please utilize the case update call link for an appointment.
Scheduling Case Update
Calls
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The Stone Law Firm is committed to regular contact with clients regarding the status of their case. Sometimes an issue is too complex to respond to via text, sometimes Edward Stone does not have the time to respond to text promptly due to court obligations, sometimes the client simply wants to hear a reassuring voice.
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The Stone Law Firm recognizes all of the foregoing circumstances and has created a calendar for case update calls. The case update call is a 10 minute call for Edward and the client to discuss matters that were too complex to text or when daily obligations prevent an immediate response.
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You can schedule a case update call here.
Web Conference Discovery Review Meetings
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When you retain The Stone Law Firm, The Firm's appearance will be entered and a discovery request will be filed. The discovery request prompts the prosecutor to send all discoverable information relate to a case: police reports, witness statements, videos, photographs, etc.
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All responsive documents given to the firm from the prosecution is uploaded to your cloud file. Edward will review the discovery and take notes on the individual files received from the prosecution.
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The Stone Law Firm uses Webex for web conferences. Edward will share his screen with you and review all discovery responses.
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Once you schedule the discovery review, Edward will spend about 30 minutes with you to review all discovery responses and form a case strategy. If one discovery meeting isn't enough to review all of the discovery, more meetings can be scheduled until all discovery has been thoroughly reviewed. Since COVID there is no uniformity as to when the firm will receive discovery responses from the prosecution, so at times the first discovery meeting will have to be rescheduled.
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Click here to schedule a discovery review.
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Court Procedure
We understand that you are not familiar with what will happen in court. The following is a typical progression of a criminal case:
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Initial Appearance: held within 72 hours (in custody felonies) and 1-2 months (misdemeanors and out of custody felonies) after the filing of the case: an initial appearance is one in which the judge informs the defendant of the crimes for which they have been charged, and inquires into the defendant's intent to hire an attorney, apply for the public defender, or represent themselves. The judge will give a defendant time to hire a private attorney if the defendant so desires. In addition, issues such as release to pretrial, a review of bail/bail conditions, and pretrial protective orders are addressed at this hearing.
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Scheduling Conference: typically held 2-4 weeks after Initial Appearance Hearing. This type of hearing is held in felony and class A misdemeanors to schedule preliminary hearings. The purpose of scheduling conferences is to schedule a preliminary hearing.
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Preliminary Hearing: typically held approximately 3-6 weeks after the scheduling conference. This is a hearing held in felony and class A misdemeanor cases. A preliminary hearing is an evidentiary hearing where the prosecutor is required to put on sufficient evidence to convince a magistrate that probable cause exists that a crime was committed and that the defendant committed the crime.
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Arraignment: typically held 1-3 weeks after preliminary hearing in class A and felony cases. In class B and C misdemeanor and infraction cases, arraignment occurs at the time of the initial appearance, and thus the hearings are referred to interchangeably. In class A misdemeanors and all felonies, arraignment occurs after waiver or bind over at the preliminary hearing. The purpose of arraignment is to formally put the defendant on notice of the charges and to take a plea.
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Pretrial Conference: typically scheduled 3-5 weeks after arraignment/initial appearance in class B and C misdemeanor and infraction cases. Typically scheduled 2-4 weeks after arraignment in class A misdemeanor and felony cases. The purpose of the hearing is to determine if the case is going to resolve or whether motions hearings/trial should be scheduled.
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Motions Hearings: these are typically evidentiary hearings and address the admissibility of evidence. Evidence may have been collected in violation of established procedures or in violation of a defendant's 4th amendment rights against unlawfully search and seizure.
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Final Pretrial Conference: usually scheduled 1-3 weeks prior to trial, the purpose of this hearing is to determine if the parties are prepared to go forward to trial, or whether a continuance is needed for various reasons or whether the case has resolved.
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Bench trial/Jury trial: the day has come for trial, which is anywhere between 3 months to a year or more after the case was filed. A bench trial is to a judge alone, a jury trial is to a jury. The number of jurors depends on the severity of the charged crime.
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Sentencing: after a defendant has been convicted or has plead as part of plea negotiations, the defendant is sentenced. In felony cases (and some misdemeanor cases), the judge refers the matter to Adult Parole and Probation, for the preparation of a presentence investigation report. In most misdemeanor cases, the judge requests the county or a private probation company to prepare a presentence report. Many minor misdemeanors proceed to sentencing without a At the time of sentencing, the judge can impose jail, prison (in felony cases), supervised probation, fines, treatment, and sentencing protective orders, or any combination thereof.
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