It's a buyer's market for legal services in which successful lawyers know how to give the client what the client wants. Practice management consultant Jay Foonberg advises attorneys to take the steps necessary to keep their clients fully informed of developments in their case.
Jan. 20, 2010 – A client-centric law practice must get off the gold standard.
“The Golden Rule of client relations is wrong,” practice management consultant Jay Foonberg told lawyers at the Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm Conference last fall. “The Golden Rule of client relations was, ‘Do unto the client what you would have others do unto you.’ Wrong. Now there is the Platinum Rule, ‘Do unto clients as the clients would have you do unto them.’”
With technological change, the legal services market has become a buyers’ market driven by what the client wants, Foonberg explained. To meet clients’ higher expectations, Foonberg gave practitioners a series of tips.
Ensure an informed and organized client. Clients want to be updated on the progress of their case, Foonberg said. At the first meeting, a lawyer should give the client an expandable file folder with his or her business card stapled on the outside. The lawyer will then automatically send the client a copy of every document charting the course of the litigation for the client’s folder. Foonberg said a lawyer should check to see whether the client prefers to have information in a hard copy or email, or both. Also, Foonberg advises that documents stamped “For Your Information Only. No Reply Necessary” will preempt clients’ phone calls inquiring whether they should act on a particular item.
Apply a two-hour rule for returning phone calls. Foonberg recalled instances of frustrated clients who left messages for their lawyers who had died, but no one had checked or turned off their voice mail systems. When the lawyer him or herself cannot return the call personally, a non-lawyer staff member should. In such an instance, the person returning the call can set up a specific time at which the lawyer will speak with the client. Alternatively, staff can encourage the client to provide information by email or a voice mail message, Foonberg said.
Overestimate time to complete work. When a lawyer fails to finish a project by a stated deadline, the clients get mad, Foonberg said. Accordingly, the lawyers should double their estimates of how long a project will take. If the work is done more quickly, the clients will be pleasantly surprised. If the estimate is too long, the client will say so.
Actively listen to the client’s story. Clients want to tell their story, and they want their lawyer’s full and non-distracted attention when they tell it, Foonberg said. At this time, Foonberg said that it is important for the lawyer to talk no more than a fourth of the time. Also, Foonberg advised lawyers to demonstrate their full attention by instructing staff, in front of the client, to hold calls. The lawyer should ask the client to turn off his or her pager or cell phone.
Always ask if there is something else the client wants to ask or tell you. Foonberg recalled an instance in which a lawyer’s meeting with a client had just about ended when the client unexpectedly remarked that he gave police a full confession. “It’s amazing the things you never ask,” Foonberg said, urging a last-minute prod for any last bit of information clients may have held back.
Explain what happens next. A client naturally wants to know what will happen next and when it is likely to happen so a lawyer should walk the client through the procedural steps, beginning with the filing of a complaint and the receipt of the opponent’s answer.
Never lie to a client. Foonberg reminded lawyers that they are in a fiduciary relationship with clients and so lying can lead to disbarment. The lawyer’s billing should be accurate and honest. Also, Foonberg recommended the lawyer disclose upfront the total cost of an action so that the client will not waste money by getting only part of the desired work.
Cash up front. A client who cannot or will not pay cash at the beginning of the case is unlikely to pay at the end, Foonberg said. Quoting Abraham Lincoln, Foonberg said, “The lawyer should always get some part of his fee in advance, that way the lawyer knows he has a client and the client knows he has a lawyer.”
The benefits of satisfied clients are measurable in ways besides a profitable practice. Foonberg noted that clients lodged 2,066 complaints against the 23,013 lawyers licensed in Wisconsin last year. He said that 65 percent – 1,347 – of those complaints were dismissed outright for failing to state a cognizable ethics complaint. “There was no ethical violation, there was just an angry client,” Foonberg said. “Only 39 of these lawyers – less than 2 percent – were prosecuted for anything.”
A great majority of ethics complaints would never be filed if the client were treated correctly, Foonberg said.
By Alex De Grand, Legal Writer, State Bar of Wisconsin
