Risk and Practice Management
Client Service
Buyer's remorse is not limited to the purchases of consumer electronics and automobiles. Many clients also experience second-thoughts about the lawyer they just hired. To reassure your new clients that they have made the right choice, immediately show a little extra client care: Send each new client a brief thank you letter with a "gift." The "gift" could be a recent copy of your firm newsletter, a recent topical article you authored, a business card that lists an unpublished telephone number for the client to reach you in an emergency, or a book related to their legal issue that shows you care about them as a client. (You get the idea.) Then follow-up with a personal telephone call several days later to let your client know you have begun work on the matter. This immediate special attention helps to retain clients and build positive long-term relationships.
When a staff member is the client
Understanding the 80/20 Rule
Safe and Effective Practice - a book review
Representing friends and family
Client Service
Successful practitioners provide excellent client service by exceeding, not just meeting, client expectations. To do so, they manage expectations from the outset, and take the time to explain the legal process, the range of possible outcomes, communication policies and the billing process with their client. They pay attention to detail, and they effectively screen clients whose expectations they feel they cannot be met. It is very important to determine your client’s degree of sophistication – it is not enough to say that client didn’t ask
Expect high standards from all your staff. Successful firms also devote the time and resources necessary to properly train and manage support staff. With the significant reliance placed on support staff, successful firms recognize that it is critical that they receive ongoing training in firm systems and are properly supervised. Never discuss a client matter in public. Respect the confidentiality of information and ensure the same from you staff through signed confidentiality agreements. Close your door when on the phone.
Time management is a very important aspect of proper client service. Don't to keep clients waiting for their office appointment, and look at your calendar before you make a time- related promise to your client. Return calls and emails in a timely fashion.
Building Client Relationships
At the commencement of your retainer provide your client with a file or binder and suggestions on how to organize it. Advise your client that you will be copying them with everything you generate or receive, and that this is where this documentation should be kept. This will enable your client to see, at a glance, the progress in the case, and will likely reduce the number of calls you receive to send out duplicate copies of documentation the client has lost or misplaced.
Keep your client informed of the progress in her case, and only take action with the express consent of your client. Have letters and pleadings approved, in writing, by your client before they are filed or forwarded to others. Keep this approval on file.
Know who your client is. Is it the parent or the adult child? If it is the parent, take your instructions only from the parent, not the child on behalf of the parent.
Do not make decisions on a case without your client’s consent and without explaining to your client the alternatives available and the possible consequences of the alternatives. Satisfy yourself that your client understands what you’ve told her and give her time to think before making her decision.
When preparing for a settlement conference, prepare the client well in advance. Discuss the format of the conference, as well as the various scenarios that you anticipate, so that the client is not overwhelmed by the process. Explain the binding nature of an agreement made at a settlement conference. If your client is one who wants to discuss proposals with a family member or advisor, make sure this person is available (by phone or in person) when the settlement conference is conducted.
Do not make a decision for a client. Give her the alternatives but make it clear in your discussions with her that the decision is hers to make.
Always remember the importance of good client relations in minimizing your claims risk. Communicate in your actions that your client is important to you. Be on time for your appointments. Do not allow interruptions when you are meeting with a client. Respond promptly to client inquiries. Be prepared. Be courteous to both your client as well as to those you deal with on your client’s behalf. Be sure that your staff does the same. A client who likes you is much less likely to file an errors or omissions claim against you.