An attorney-client contract is required by the State of California for attorneys representing individuals. Bruce & McCoy will not represent either individuals or business entities without an attorney-client contract and a retainer. For this reason, an applicant is not a client of Bruce & McCoy unless and until Mr. McCoy sends an executed attorney-client contract to an applicant. A sample copy of the contract is appended to this page. It is believed that the attorney-client contract is self explanatory. If there are any questions, they can be answered in a telephone conference.

An attorney-client relationship can only be established after an applicant has received a cost estimate and executed an attorney-client contract, and applicant's retainer check has been honored by the bank, and Mr. McCoy returns an executed copy of the contract to the applicant with his signature. A certified check will of course expedite the process. Credit cards cannot be utilized for retainers.

If a cost estimate has been prepared for an applicant by Bruce & McCoy, it will be accompanied by a proposed attorney-client contract. If the applicant wishes to proceed, he or she or an officer of the company should execute and send the executed contract with the requested retainer to Bruce & McCoy. If Mr. McCoy agrees to represent the applicant who has obtained a cost estimate, and forwarded a sufficient disclosure submission, and executed the attorney-client contract, and returned the same to Mr. McCoy with the required retainer, and there is no client conflict of interest, Mr. McCoy will execute the contract and return a copy to the applicant who at that point in time and not before will become a client of the firm of Bruce & McCoy.

Bruce & McCoy reserves the right to decline an applicant for any reason in view of the severe time limits imposed by the Patent Laws, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPT0), and his preexisting workload.