How It Started
I have been practicing law in Virginia since 1996. Since 2000, I’ve focused my practice solely on family law—including divorce, custody, visitation and support.
I have always found a great deal of satisfaction in working with my clients to help create some stability for their family during what can be a confusing, difficult time. However, before opening Evolution Divorce & Family Law, PLLC (“Evolution Divorce”), something about my work didn’t feel quite right.
Most clients pay for legal services by the hour, which I did at my prior firm for many, many years. Over time, I observed how the hourly-billing model made a stressful time even more so for family law clients. Worrying about how much the bill was going to be at the end of the case was an additional stressor my clients didn’t need or want. On the contrary, they were seeking certainty, so much so that potential clients would frequently ask at the very first meeting, “How much is this going to cost?” Under the hourly-billing method, I just could not give my clients an answer they could rely on. It bothered me that I couldn’t answer one of their most important questions at the very beginning of our working relationship.
I created Evolution Divorce in 2017 to reduce my clients’ anxiety and provide them with more certainty during a very uncertain time.
For much of the work we do, Evolution Divorce offers alternatives to paying by the hour. It’s called Pre-Agreed Pricing.
Evolution Divorce’s Pre-Agreed Pricing model provides clients with clear, upfront pricing, eliminating the uncertainty and stress often associated with hourly billing.
For uncontested separation and divorce matters, we offer pricing packages that bundle essential services, providing you with an efficient and predictable cost structure.
For more complex litigation cases, in both the Juvenile Courts and Circuit Courts, pricing is based on stages of litigation.
In addition the litigation stages, flexible monthly subscription pricing includes unlimited access to professional legal services in between stages. To show you we are not incentivized to unnecessarily prolong the court case, you won’t pay more than six months of monthly subscription prices.
Our Pre-Agreed Pricing model allows you to focus on resolving your case, without the worry of accumulating hourly costs. Each option is designed to help you manage your budget while ensuring you receive high-quality legal representation.
I chose the name “Evolution Divorce & Family Law” because that’s what the divorce process can be for our clients—an “evolution” from a point in your life where things may seem scattered and broken, to a place where things finally begin to stabilize.
I also saw it as an evolution in pricing for legal services.
By creating the Pre-Agreed Pricing model which removes uncertainty created by charging an hourly rate, it also effectively removes a barrier that sometimes prevents lawyers and clients from building a closer working relationship.
For example, in my experience, some clients wouldn’t call me when they perhaps needed to because they were concerned about being charged for every conversation we had. At the same time, I may have wanted and needed to hear from them, about something that might have been relevant to their case, and at the time that it happened rather than weeks later.
From what I observed, the hourly-billing model has the potential to create a disconnect between lawyer and client, which is in neither the client’s nor the lawyer’s interest.
At the same time, after forming Evolution Divorce, I recognized that every client’s needs are unique and some clients would rather choose pay by the hour, which is why we also began to offer Hourly Pricing as an option.
Another reason a client may pay the hour is that while we offer our Pre-Agreed Pricing Model for most everything we do, sometimes cases don’t fall neatly into one of our Pre-Agreed Pricing categories. For those cases, clients will pay an hourly rate.
For those who prefer a traditional billing structure or whose cases do not fit within our Pre-Agreed Pricing model, hourly billing provides flexibility and a pay-as-you-go approach. This option allows clients to engage our services for specific tasks or ongoing representation while maintaining control over costs.
Whether you choose Pre-Agreed Pricing for predictability or Hourly Pricing for flexibility, our goal remains the same—providing exceptional legal representation tailored to your needs.
Evolution’s Service Pledge
Another reason I formed Evolution Divorce was to create a law firm committed to exceptional client service.
While no lawyer can guarantee an outcome, at Evolution Divorce, we can guarantee a high level of client service. And if we do not provide that level — good enough to earn your referral to others — we will provide you an opportunity to request a refund up to 25% of the price you have paid to that point.
The guarantee is a service guarantee only – NOT a guarantee of any particular outcome. While we cannot guarantee an outcome, we can guarantee the level of client service you receive from Evolution Divorce while we represent you.
This guarantee reflects our commitment to transparency and accountability while upholding the ethical standards governing legal representation in Virginia. We aim to ensure that the service you receive aligns with the investment you’ve made at every stage of your case.
-Chris Macturk, Founding Attorney, Evolution Divorce & Family Law, PLLC
