Frequently Asked
Questions.
How the firm runs intakes, what fees look like, what the firm does and does not handle, and the procedural questions clients ask before engaging.
What most people want to know.
What kind of firm is the firm?
A boutique business and tax law firm in Los Angeles serving founders, creators, family-owned enterprises, and high earners across the United States and on the U.S. side of cross-border matters. Most engagements involve some combination of contracts, entity, M&A, tax, and trademark work, with the practices integrated rather than siloed. The firm was founded in 2019 by Delina Yasmeh, Esq., who trained in Mergers and Acquisitions Tax at Deloitte and PwC.
Who are the firm’s typical clients?
Founders building real companies. Creators and influencers operating businesses with brand deals and intellectual property. Family-owned enterprises across restaurants, contracting, professional services, software, e-commerce, and real estate. High earners with multi-state, multi-entity, or cross-border tax positions. Couples drafting prenuptial or postnuptial agreements where the financial circumstances justify a substantive agreement. Operators preparing a business for sale or transition.
Where is the firm physically located?
Los Angeles. Most engagements are run remotely, with the client and the firm meeting by video for the intake and any subsequent meetings. The firm represents clients across the country on matters that can be governed by the firm’s home jurisdiction (which is most operating contracts), and internationally on the U.S. side of cross-border matters.
How does an engagement begin?
A description of the matter sent through the contact form, by email, or by phone. The firm reads what comes in the same day, replies within one business day with a preliminary read on the matter and a written proposal, and decides together with the prospective client whether the engagement fits. The first email and the preliminary read are at no charge.
Is the first call a free consultation?
No. The firm does not offer free consultations. The preliminary read on the matter that follows the initial email is at no charge, but the substantive intake is paid. The intake is a 60-minute paid session that produces substantive legal analysis, a recommended path, and a written summary the client retains. The reason the intake is paid is that the work in it is substantive legal work, not a sales call.
How much is the intake?
The intake fee is set at the engagement-letter stage. Most intakes run in the low-to-mid three figures.
What happens after the intake?
The firm produces a written engagement letter for any work that follows, with the scope, the deliverables, the timeline, and the fee committed in writing before drafting begins. If the matter does not proceed, the client retains the intake summary as a reference document.
Are fees flat or hourly?
Flat per scope for most matters. Hourly for M&A, international tax, and certain complex matters where the scope is not reasonably bounded at the engagement-letter stage. Each engagement letter specifies the fee structure.
Are flat fees earned upon receipt?
Yes, on most flat-scope engagements, fees are earned upon receipt under the firm’s Master Engagement Agreement, consistent with the controlling state-law framework for flat-fee representation. The client retains the right to a refund of any unearned portion based on the reasonable value of the services performed at the standard hourly rate, and the firm honors that right where a client terminates the engagement mid-matter.
Does the firm offer payment plans?
Yes, on engagements where the scope and fee support it. Payment plans are addressed in the engagement letter on a per-engagement basis.
Does the firm offer fixed-fee retainers?
Yes, for clients with predictable ongoing legal needs. The retainer is calibrated to the client’s actual demand pattern, with monthly or quarterly capacity defined in the retainer agreement.
What does the firm handle directly?
Business contract drafting and review, LLC and corporation formation, S-corporation elections, Reasonable Compensation Memoranda, professional corporation formation for licensed professionals, founder and startup work below the priced-round line, mergers and acquisitions on transactions below $25M in deal value, tax strategy memoranda, qualified small business stock planning, multi-state residency analysis, U.S. trademark applications and prosecution, creator and influencer counsel, e-commerce counsel, nonprofit formation and 501(c)(3) recognition, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, estate planning starter packages, and property transfer with reassessment-exclusion analysis.
What does the firm not handle?
Series A and later priced rounds with full preferred stock terms, ongoing family law matters such as divorce or custody, patent prosecution, public-company transactions, transactions over $25M in deal value, transactions requiring SEC registration statements or proxy solicitations, hostile takeover defense, complex multi-generational trust structures, dynasty trusts, generation-skipping transfer tax planning, estate litigation, contested probate, real estate purchases or sales, title disputes, partition actions, eminent-domain matters, landlord-tenant disputes, Medicaid or public-benefits-eligibility planning, or pure tax controversy without an underlying planning engagement. For matters in those categories, the firm refers to specialized counsel.
Will the firm refer me to other counsel where I need it?
Yes. The firm maintains professional relationships with institutional firms for venture, M&A, and securities work above the firm’s lane, with dedicated trust-and-estate counsel for complex estate planning, with patent counsel for patent prosecution, with family-law counsel for divorce and custody matters, and with sales-tax specialists for multi-state sales-tax registration and compliance. Where a matter requires depth the firm does not provide, the firm refers and where appropriate coordinates the handoff.
Does the firm work with my CPA?
Yes. Every tax engagement coordinates with the client’s CPA on the implementation of recommended structural changes. The tax attorney’s role is upstream of the return; the CPA’s role is downstream. The two are complementary. Where a client does not yet have a CPA, the firm refers to CPA partners with whom the firm works regularly.
How quickly does the firm respond?
Within one business day on the initial email and on any subsequent communication during an active engagement. Where a deadline is in play, the firm responds within hours rather than business days.
How long do engagements typically run?
Single-document contract engagements run one to three weeks. LLC formation runs two to four weeks (single-member) or three to five weeks (multi-member with custom buy-sell). S-corporation elections run three to six weeks. Tax Strategy Memoranda run three to six weeks. Trademark applications run two to four weeks from intake to filing, with USPTO examination then proceeding over 8 to 14 months. M&A engagements run six to twelve weeks from engagement letter to close where the parties are aligned, longer where diligence surfaces material issues. Complex estate plans, prenuptial agreements, and creator year-one packages run six to ten weeks.
Does the firm work weekends or after hours?
Where a matter requires it, yes. The firm operates with the response cadence and direct attorney access that distinguish the boutique structure from the team-based institutional model. Routine matters run on standard business hours; matters with active deadlines run on whatever cadence the deadline requires.
Will I work with Delina directly?
Yes. Every deliverable at the firm is drafted, reviewed, and signed by Delina. The firm operates as one attorney on every engagement, intake through deliverable.
Is there an associate or paralegal who handles my matter?
The firm uses AI-assisted drafting (disclosed in every engagement letter under the AI Use Disclosure) and administrative support for filings and document handling. Substantive legal work is performed by Delina directly.
Is my information confidential?
Yes. Every engagement is governed by attorney-client privilege and the firm’s confidentiality framework. The preliminary read on the matter is also confidential, even where no engagement follows.
Can I bring a matter to the firm even if I am not in California?
Yes. The firm represents clients across the United States. Most operating contracts can be governed by the firm’s home jurisdiction’s law for clients anywhere in the country. Federal work (USPTO trademarks, IRS S-corp elections, federal tax strategy, federal recognition of nonprofits, M&A on the federal-tax side) applies regardless of the client’s state of residence. Where a matter requires admission in another state, the firm coordinates with local counsel.
Can I bring a matter to the firm if I am outside the United States?
Yes, on the U.S. side of cross-border matters. The firm represents international clients on U.S.-side entity formation, U.S. tax structuring on inbound and outbound transactions, U.S. trademark filings, FIRPTA analysis on U.S. real property dispositions, and the U.S.-side compliance obligations of foreign-owned U.S. operations. The firm coordinates with foreign counsel handling what foreign law requires.
Will the firm tell me if it is not the right fit?
Yes. Where the math does not support the engagement, where the matter requires depth the firm does not provide, where a deadline is too short to do meaningful work, or where the client and the firm are not aligned on the approach, the firm declines and explains why. The firm tells clients when it does not.
How to begin
Send a description of what is in front of you. The firm responds within one business day with a written proposal and a preliminary read on the matter. The first email is at no charge. See also Fees and how an engagement runs.
delina@delina.esq · 818-888-6060 · /book