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Goettelman Law

For Professional Advisors

What I take, what I don't, and how this works.

Accountants, brokers, insurance professionals, business intermediaries, and advisors whose clients run into a legal question mid-deal. This page exists so you can decide quickly whether I am the right call.

The part that matters most

No referral fees. In either direction. Ever.

I do not pay for referrals and I do not accept payment for making them. There is no fee split, no marketing arrangement, no reciprocity expectation, and nothing that would put either of us in an awkward position with our own regulators.

If I send you a client, it is because they need what you do. If you send me one, I will assume the same. That is the entire arrangement, and it is the only one worth having.

Fit

Send these my way.

Clear yes-es. If your client's situation looks like one of these, ask — I can usually tell you quickly whether it is workable.

Good fit

  • An owner preparing to sell a business, or evaluating an offer
  • A sponsor or investor group forming a fund or joint venture
  • A private placement or investor offering that needs documenting
  • A commercial or investment property acquisition or disposition
  • A property owner whose site may now support more under the Live Local Act
  • Entity formation, governance, or owner agreements for a closely held company
  • A residential closing that needs to happen on schedule

Not me — and I will say so early

  • Litigation of any kind, including contested probate and trust disputes
  • Contested zoning hearings, land use appeals, and administrative appeals
  • Family law, criminal defense, personal injury, immigration, bankruptcy
  • Intellectual property prosecution
  • Matters outside Florida requiring local counsel elsewhere

A referral that goes nowhere costs you more than it costs me — it is your relationship with the client that absorbs it. So I would rather be quick and clear about a no, and point you at someone better suited.

What you can expect

The commitments.

A straight answer on fit

Whether I can help, and whether I am the right person — before anyone invests time in it. A no comes as fast as a yes.

A price before the work

Your client leaves the first meeting with a written, fixed price for the agreed scope. No open-ended hourly exposure landing on someone you vouched for.

Fixed fees cover legal services. Third-party costs — filing and recording fees, title charges, taxes, and similar expenses — are separate, and are identified in writing before the work begins. A fixed price assumes the scope we agree on; if the scope changes, we agree the change in writing first.

You hear how it went

Within what confidentiality allows and with the client’s agreement. Referrals sent into silence stop being sent, and rightly so.

Educational sessions

I will come talk to your clients.

For years I presented no-obligation sessions for an insurance company’s business clients — business succession and estate planning, what belongs in a plan, how to get a company ready to sell and identify who might buy it. The company hosted and invited; I presented on the topic they chose; attendees left with something useful and no one was sold anything.

I am glad to do the same here, for your clients, on subjects that are genuinely useful to them: the Live Local Act and what it means for property owners, raising money for a real estate deal without creating a securities problem, or preparing a business for sale.

You host and invite your own clients. I bring the presentation and pay nothing toward the event — that keeps it clean for both of us. There is no pitch at the end.

Topics, by who your clients are

Insurance & financial professionals

  • Business succession and estate planning: what belongs in a plan
  • Getting your business ready to sell, and finding the buyer

Real estate professionals

  • What the Live Local Act changes for Southwest Florida property
  • Holding title: entities, liability, and your real estate

CPAs & investor clients

  • Raising money to buy or build, without breaking securities law
  • Entity structuring and 1031 exchanges

Or tell me what your clients keep asking you about, and I will build the session around that.

Get in touch directly.

The fastest way to find out whether something is a fit is to ask. Call or email — you do not need to route a client to me to have a conversation.

(727) 371-6213