Dealing with routine legal issues, such as creating a will or selling a home, is part of daily life and the attorneys of North Tampa Law Group, located in the Cypress Glen Professional Park, about one mile east of the I-75 exit at S.R. 56 (behind MINI of Wesley Chapel), are ready to help clients seeking legal assistance.
The firm was established in 2014 and attorneys Brian Arrighi (the managing partner) and Laurel Ackley each possess a decade or more of legal experience in areas that routinely affect families, such as real estate transactions, estate planning, probate proceedings, divorce, bankruptcy and other family law cases.
Arrighi says, however, that the North Tampa Law Group does not handle criminal or personal injury cases.
Ackley and Arrighi each earned their Juris Doctor (J.D.) degrees from Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, after earning undergraduate degrees from the University of Florida in Gainesville. Both lawyers are licensed to practice in the courts of the State of Florida and the U.S. District Court, Southern and Middle Districts of Florida.
Ackley also is licensed to practice in North Carolina.
With the active real estate market in the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel area, there are lots of deals being made, including a lot of “For Sale By Owner” transactions. Arrighi says that having an attorney involved can be a worthwhile expense.
“The misconception is that it’s more expensive to get a lawyer involved and that’s not always the case,” he says. “There are a lot of issues that can arise during a transaction.”
One of the problems Arrighi cites is the inability to clear a property’s title, due to an existing judgment against a seller, something that can sometimes be negotiated to a lower settlement price to clear the title if a lawyer is involved in the process.
He also says that it can save valuable time if an attorney is reviewing a transaction and finds a potential problem.
“We see it right away and get working on it,” he says, adding that using North Tampa Law Group to handle a real estate closing does not necessarily increase the cost of a transaction. “Our fees are very competitive compared to a standard title agent.”
Estate Planning & Family Law
Estate planning is a legal area where it can be beneficial to pay attention to the different options so that assets can be managed and distributed according to the client’s wishes — all with minimal cost.
A will is the basic document many people use to direct the distribution of their assets, but it involves a sometimes lengthy and expensive court process known as “probate.” North Tampa Law Group handles probate cases and Arrighi says it’s a good idea to consider all of the options available to minimize court involvement.
“For estate planning, your goal when you’re working with a client is to avoid the probate process entirely,” he says. “If you have a proper estate plan, you can have it set up using something like a trust to automatically pass the assets to your beneficiaries.”
In addition to asset distribution, Arrighi says considering real-life factors, like long-term health care and guardianship, also can be part of estate planning.
Sometimes life presents challenges with legal consequences, such as financial problems that result in a need to consider bankruptcy or a marriage that may be trending towards divorce. The North Tampa Law Group can help you work through what can be difficult, related legal processes involving issues like child custody, enforcement actions and even domestic violence injunctions.
Arrighi says that the breadth of services North Tampa Law Group provides offers convenience to the firm’s clients, whose legal needs may encompass more than one practice area.
“We’re really an all-inclusive kind of place for your typical family in the New Tampa area,” Arrighi says. “There’s really a lot we can help you with. A lot of our clients are very relieved to find out it was not as expensive a process as they thought and it wasn’t as difficult as they thought.”
Clients who have expressed their satisfaction with services they received from North Tampa Law Group include Scott Radtke, who awarded 5 stars on a Google online review.
“I have not always had the best luck dealing with attorneys, but Brian made the experience great,” Radtke wrote. “The staff was courteous and professional. He was knowledgeable of the subject matter and answered all of our questions. He was very reasonably priced and was also right on time for my appointment. I am extremely pleased with the North Tampa Law Group. They are my new go-to attorneys!”
Arrighi says that communicating effectively with clients is an important part of the firm’s success. “I think we do a really great job of explaining things in simple terms and making the complicated simple to understand,” he says.
Document Preparation, Too
One way the North Tampa Law Group helps people who may not be able to afford the full legal representation that retaining a lawyer provides is by offering some services — such as document preparation— without coming on as attorney of record.
Arrighi says there are a lot of resources available for people who want to be their own legal advocate, and that North Tampa Legal Group can assist in these cases, too, also reducing your legal costs.
“We do offer services that are the nuts and bolts of legal advice that can really help with the process, without spending too much money,” he says, adding that the initial free consultation is a good way prospective clients willing to do some of the legal “lifting” themselves can begin the process of getting their day in court.
A law firm is operated much like any other business and Arrighi says the North Tampa Law Group’s move to Wesley Chapel from the Tampa Palms Professional Center more than three years ago was influenced by a need to be accessible to a growing client base.
“We work with a lot of homeowners and deal with personal legal issues,” he says. “With the growth in Wesley Chapel and Land O’ Lakes, it’s more convenient to be in that area.”
The North Tampa Law Group is located at 26852 Tanic Dr., Suite 102, in Wesley Chapel. To set an online evaluation of your case, visit NorthTampaLawGroup.com or make an appointment for a free initial consultation at (813) 518-7411.
