Welcome to MLH, Inc.
Freelance Legal Research and Writing Services by a Lawyer for Other Lawyers
If you love trial work and hate research and writing, doing your own drafting and research actually costs you time and money. Since 2006, MLH, Inc.'s Arti Rolfingsmeier has been a "ghost-writer" and researcher for Kansas and Missouri attorneys.
About MLH, Inc.
Detailed, Creative, Dependable, Experienced
Arti Rolfingsmeier is a licensed Kansas attorney*, who, through MLH, Inc. (formerly My Learned Hand), contracts only to other attorneys to provide her research and writing skills rapidly and on point. * on inactive status.
Originally from Dallas, Texas, Arti graduated from the University of Kansas with a double major in Anthropology and Art History. She started work on a Master's Degree in Art History, concentrating in Oriental Art. Her work in researching and cataloging the Mrs. Emery Byrd Thayer Japanese woodblock prints from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries culminated in an exhibition at Spooner Hall in Lawrence, Kansas.
She received her law degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, then established a private civil practice which included document preparation in domestic relations, collections, wills, landlord-tenant law, and trial work in juvenile, municipal, appellate and district courts.
Arti believes her legal work is a professional expression of her creativity. In her life away from the law, she has bought and renovated houses, refinished old furniture professionally, and bought and sold antiques and collectibles in a local antique mall. Arti's short story "Full Circle" was published in October, 2005 in the popular Canfield and Hansen Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul. She has also written four novel-length crime fiction manuscripts about the Kansas death penalty, small Kansas communities, crime procedures, the 1940s and 1950s, Alcatraz, local current and historical crimes. Arti is a master quilter, writer and humorist. With all of her inside and outside cats, she is also a bona fide "Cat Whisperer"!
Practice Areas
How I Can Help You
Researching and drafting original and responsive pleadings and letters for different attorneys is how Arti has developed the skills which could be most valuable to you. Her prior active trial experience and current ability to rapidly become familiar with a new case allows her to help you, whether starting out on a case, in the middle or on appeal.
Whether you suddenly find you need to file an appellate brief in ten days, want to draft the best consumer-fraud complaint or motion to dismiss, call or e-mail Arti Rolfingsmeier today. She has done nothing but research and write for other attorneys since 2006. She is fast, experienced, innovative and reasonable.
Civil Cases
Want an independent review of the discovery you just received, a business contract to see if it covers all contingencies or review of all information for a personal injury demand letter?
MLH, Inc.'s Arti Rolfingsmeier is ready to help. Give her the salient inforrmation and documents, the "right" answer, and she will prepare the appropriate document. She will also use her experience and creativity to craft a plausible argument if the law is not in your client's favor.
Criminal Defense
Let MLH, Inc. help you with the motions, responses, and trial preparation you need to zealously represent your client. Arti has researched and written motions to suppress and researched criminal defense issues from Kansas and Missouri state and federal courts to a petition for certiorari at the U S Supreme Court.
Family Law
We all know it takes a few minutes to get married and a whole lot of paperwork to get divorced. Arti is experienced in drafting divorce petitions and decrees, motions to modify (and foreign judgment registration), child support worksheets, parenting plans, and all other paperwork you might need. She might also help you stay the only sane one!
Appeals
Let MLH, Inc. research and draft your civil, administrative, or criminal appellate briefs. Arti Rolfingsmeier has the ability, skill and experience to organize and adapt to another attorney's writing and information-presentation style while synthesizing the material in a strongly-worded manner.
Keeping Current
Arti Rolfingsmeier regularly checks the on-line advance sheets for Kansas, Missouri, the 8th and 10th Circuits, as well as the U S Supreme Court. If she sees a case she knows is relevant to your practice, she'll alert you. (A free service).
Other
Using MLH, Inc. and Arti Rolfinsmeier for your legal research, drafting or document review allows you to work smarter in several ways:
You get the experience of an attorney, bound by the same ethical rules as you
You only use my services when you need them - no need to keep an on-site employee busy
You bill your client for my services at your own hourly rate
You make money on my services, freeing your own time
You get file-ready documents, back-up resources I use to prepare your pleading, memo or brief
Have a legal issue not addressed here? Call or e-mail MLH, Inc. to find out more.
Legal Research and Writing Services
"When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt." - Henry J. Kaiser
Arti Rolfingsmeier is as organized as your secretary with the eye and experience of any attorney. She uses a research data base which has the statutes and case law for federal cases as well as for 34 states. You will always receive Arti's best scholarly and creative efforts quickly and priced reasonably. Call Arti today with any questions.
Rates
MLH, Inc. services start at $95.00 per hour. The bill will detail her time and expenses. Payment in full is due immediately upon billing. If you use MLH, Inc.'s services regularly (approximately 3 hours per month), services will discount to $80.00 per hour. For appointed counsel, the rate is one-half of the permitted state or CJA rate.
Get in touch to learn more.
Get in Touch With MLH, Inc.
Thank you for visiting the MLH, Inc. site. This is general information, which should not be construed as legal advice at all. This site is for LAWYERS ONLY and not for persons looking for advice on a specific matter.
Kansas City, Kansas
(913) 342-8815
FAQs
What Else You Might Want to Know
What exactly do you do?
Research and writing, primarily for Kansas and Missouri attorneys, is all I do. I conduct on-line case and statute research on a particular topic all the way to writing pleadings which need legal argument, to writing appellate briefs, docketing statements, and other supporting documents in all areas of the law. Some of my attorneys only want a memo; others want a certain pleading or response. Others may want me in the background from case start to finish, or just on the appeal. You decide how involved I will be.
Why should I use you instead of a law clerk, paralegal or another attorney?
While I am not in active practice now, I was a practicing attorney for almost ten years in Kansas and Missouri. I have an attorney's experience, education, training and law license. As such, I simply know far more than a clerk or paralegal, and can think like you instead of doing only what you asked. Unlike an associate, MLH, Inc. is an independent contractor; you don't have to keep me busy full-time or pay benefits or employee taxes.
Can you research in states other than Kansas or Missouri?
Yes. The research data base I use has statutes and case law for federal research and 34 other states. It also has law review articles and specialized links to bankruptcy, NLRB court cases, AG opinions, and the like.
How do we get started?
Give me the salient facts, the issue and outcome you hope the research will show. If the law is against your client, I will see what arguments can be made to persuade the court to your client's position.
If you want documents drafted, I can review your file in your office (if in the Kansas City are) or at mine; you can e-mail me the necessary documents or information, depending on your deadline. Whichever way works most easily for you to meet your deadline is what I'll do.
Do you charge for revisions?
No charge for minor revisions. Simply e-mail your comments to me and I'll make them. If the changes are major and not due to my error or omission, I do charge for those. I will do whatever is right to make the document as good as it can be, in your opinion.
Do you need a retainer?
No. I will submit a bill with my finished work (or on a detailed monthly bill if you use my services regularly), and you pay me then. I bill at the end of each month.
If you or your client is concerned about the costs, you can request I spend a pre-determined of hours on the project, and then authorize further time, if you decide it is necessary based on what I have so far.
What do you charge?
I live and work in the Midwest where costs generally are lower. I have a full office set up at home and compose everything myself at the computer. I have created a large body of work on which to draw, so have a low overhead. My hourly is $95.00 per hour.
If you become a regular with monthly projects (about 3 hours of work or more), you receive a discounted rate of $80.00 per hour. If you are appointed, I will charge half your hourly rate. I charge $40.00 per hour on Hyatt or Pre-paid Legal clients, if you are in their network.
Will my client hear from you?
No. I am "invisible" unless you choose to make them aware that I am working on their cases. I am no "competition" to you, for clients. For example, I answer and accumulate documents for discovery responses, which most of you find tedious, time-consuming and boring. I will go through your file and answer all I can, then list information and documents the clients still need to provide. When the responses are in final form, you will then review them, which is faster for you.
Call or e-mail if you don't see the answer to your question or in this web site's other information.