Free and Confidential Consultation
Your first consultation with us is free and confidential, whether or not you hire us. You speak with a lawyer at the firm, not an intake person, and you can tell us what happened in your own words.
We represent individuals in sexual harassment and whistleblower retaliation cases in New York, and in healthcare fraud reward cases in federal courts anywhere in the United States. John Howley founded the firm in 2012 and has been admitted in New York since 1990. Consultations are free and confidential. Call (212) 601-2728.
What Keeps Your Consultation Confidential
Two things protect what you tell us. One is how we work. The other is New York’s ethics rules for lawyers.
How we work
We don’t contact your employer, your co-workers or anyone else unless you tell us to.
New York's ethics rules
Under New York’s ethics rules for lawyers, when you talk with a lawyer about possibly hiring them for a matter, you are a prospective client. Even if you don’t hire the lawyer, the lawyer may not use or reveal what you said, except in the narrow situations the rules allow. This protection applies however short the conversation is.
Where That Protection Ends
The rule binds the lawyer.
If you send a lawyer information on your own, without any reasonable expectation that the lawyer is willing to discuss representing you, you are not a prospective client.
What Happens When You Call Our Firm
1
We set a time
Our staff take a few details and set a time for you to speak with a lawyer at the firm.
2
We listen, then ask
In the consultation, we listen first. Then we ask about evidence that existed before you contacted a lawyer, because that kind of evidence often carries great weight.
3
You leave with a next step
We also ask what you want and what you need, because that shapes every choice that follows. By the end of the call, you know what we need to look at and what the next step is. You also know what we can and cannot assess yet.
Questions we often start with
- What messages came directly from the person involved?
- Who did you tell at the time?
- What happened right after you objected or complained?
If you have information about healthcare fraud, we also ask whether anyone has already reported it to the government.
Do not start downloading company data. Preserve what you already lawfully possess, identify where other evidence sits, and leave it there for a lawyer to analyze and advise on.
What the Consultation Does Not Do
- The consultation is not a decision about your case, and it does not put a value on it.
No one can do that from a first conversation.
- It also does not make us your lawyers.
We become your lawyers only when we both sign a written agreement for us to represent you. Until then, we are not acting on any deadline for you.
If we are not the right lawyers for you, we will tell you, and we will help you find the right lawyer for your case.
Whether an Employer Finds Out, and What Becomes Public
Your employer
We don’t tell your employer that you contacted us. We can’t control what your employer sees on a work phone, a work email account or a monitored work network. It is safer to contact us from your own phone or email.
The public record
A consultation by itself puts nothing on the public record. Not every case leads to a public court filing.
If you are punished for reporting harassment, fraud or another violation of the law, we handle those cases too.
Cost, Obligation and How The Howley Law Firm Is Paid
There is no charge for the consultation, and it commits you to nothing.
We take most cases on a contingency fee and advance the costs. In those cases, there is no fee unless there is a recovery. How fees and advanced costs are handled is set out in a written agreement before you commit.
What to Bring, and What Not to Collect
Come with what you already have, and come even if you have nothing. We would not turn down an otherwise credible sexual harassment case just because the first consultation turns up no texts or eyewitnesses. Part of our job is finding evidence you may not recognize as evidence.
Before the call, it helps to write down the dates, who you told at the time, and what happened right after you complained.
Deadlines in Sexual Harassment and Whistleblower Matters
There are strict time limits, and acting early protects your rights. On the call, we tell you whether a deadline may matter for your kind of case.
How to Reach The Howley Law Firm
Calling is the most direct way to reach us: (212) 601-2728. If you use our contact form, give only enough to arrange a call, and keep the details for the call itself.
Phone first, then your choice
Your first consultation is by telephone. If we go forward together, we can meet in person, by video, or by phone. John Howley speaks French and Tagalog as well as English.
If You Are in Immediate Danger
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Support and crisis resources can also help you before, or instead of, speaking with a lawyer.
Questions About the Consultation
Is the consultation free?
Yes. It is free, and you have no obligation to go further.
Is what I say protected if the firm does not take my case?
Yes, within limits. Even if you don’t hire the lawyer, the lawyer may not use or reveal what you said, except in the narrow situations the rules allow.
Can the consultation happen by video?
The first consultation is by telephone. Video works for later meetings.
What if I'm not sure I need a lawyer?
That is what the call is for. Tell us what happened, and we will help you work out what to do next.