Before our first call: the worksheet
The Law Office of Arthur Karadzhyan
Twenty minutes with this page before we talk makes the conversation twice as useful. Nothing here is a test, and incomplete is fine — bring what you have.
A note before the blanks. Write facts, not conclusions — “March 4: told by J. Whitfield my role was eliminated” beats “they discriminated against me.” We supply the legal conclusions; that is the division of labor.
1 · The cast
List the people in your story — name, title, and one line on their role. Especially: who made the decisions that affected you; who you complained to, if anyone; who saw or heard what matters; who else was treated the way you were, or noticeably wasn’t.
2 · The timeline
The spine of every case. One line per event, dated (approximate is fine — “mid-February” works): when you started; promotions, raises, reviews; the moment things changed; every complaint, request, or report you made, and every response; discipline, in order; how it ended, in the exact words used, if you remember them. If one week matters most, give that week its own lines, day by day.
3 · The documents you lawfully have
Check what already sits in your possession — your accounts, your devices, papers given to you: offer letter and any contract; handbook or policies you were given; pay stubs (the last six months, if you have them); performance reviews; the messages that matter — emails, texts, chats — as they exist in your own accounts; doctor’s notes and leave paperwork, if relevant; anything you were asked to sign at the end.
And the caution, once more: do not go collecting. No copying the shared drive, no forwarding from work systems, no recordings — California requires everyone’s consent, and clean cases are stronger cases. What you cannot lawfully reach, the law reaches later; noting that a document exists is as useful to us as having it.
4 · The clocks
Write down every date with legal weight you know of: your last day; any deadline in a letter or agreement in front of you; the date of any right-to-sue letter; anything you have filed anywhere, with dates. If any deadline might be near, put it at the top of your message to us, not the bottom.
5 · Three questions we will ask, so consider them early
What do you want? — reinstatement, compensation, a clean reference, an ending; there are more right answers than people expect, and the goal shapes the strategy. What is the other side’s version? — the strongest thing you can do in a first call is tell us their story fairly; we plan against the best version of it, not the worst. What worries you most? — the bad fact, the embarrassing email, the thing you assume ruins it. It almost never does, and it is the item we most need early.
Keep the completed worksheet for a consultation. For an initial inquiry, send only contact information, the names of the parties, a brief description, and any deadlines; wait for instructions before sending the worksheet or other sensitive material. A response within a particular time is not promised.
This worksheet is preparation, not legal advice, and completing it creates no attorney-client relationship.
This article states California law as of its revision date and is analysis, not legal advice. Reading this site does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney advertising.