How this works, start to finish

From the free check to a signed order, with the honest version of how long each part takes.

1. The free eligibility check

Nine closed questions. No free-text box asking you to explain what happened — we deliberately do not collect that at this stage, because information volunteered by someone who is not yet a client creates obligations that can stop us acting for other people later. You answer what we ask and nothing more.

You see the result immediately. There is no email wall in front of it, which is not true of the one other working eligibility tool we found in this market.

2. We check whether you already have free relief

This happens before any price is shown. If your answers fit the profile California clears automatically and you have not looked at your own record in the last year, the check stops and tells you to order it first. It will not sell you anything at that point.

3. You create an account and complete intake

If you decide to go ahead, you make an account and answer a longer set of questions — the facts needed to draft the petition. It saves as you go, so you can stop and come back. Nothing is uploaded that we have not asked for.

4. You sign the fee agreement and pay

The written fee agreement sets out the flat fee, exactly what it covers, when each part of it is earned, and your right to a refund of anything unearned. You sign it before paying, and you get a copy immediately. Pay in full or in three equal monthly payments, same total.

5. An attorney reads your actual record

This is the first thing we do with the money, and it is the step that protects you. If the record shows the case is not what you thought it was, or that relief is not available, we tell you and refund the fee in full. People misremember their own cases constantly, and that is normal — it is why the review exists.

6. We prepare, file and serve the petition

The petition, the supporting declaration and the proof of service are prepared and sent to you to read before anything is filed. Then it goes to the court that handled your conviction, and the district attorney is served and given their statutory window to respond.

7. The hearing, if there is one

Many of these are decided on the papers with nobody appearing. Where a court does set a hearing, the firm appears. You do not have to be there, and you do not have to be in California.

8. You get the order

When it is granted you get a copy of the signed order. That document is the thing that matters: it is what you hand to a licensing board or an employer looking at a stale background report, and it is what automatic relief never gives anyone.

How long all of this takes