Posts tagged ‘law firm’
What can (should?) you expect from your lawyer?
The sole focus of my daily work is to serve my clients. But for my clients, I would have no practice and therefore no work. So how do I best serve my clients? By meeting their expectations.
If you’re a consumer of legal services, you will benefit most from legal counsel if you have a clear set of expectations and can communicate these expectations to your attorney.
In our initial meeting, I ask clients to share their expectations with me. The quickest way to get a direct answer is to ask a direct question. This often leads to a conversation rich in information for both my client and me. But not always . . .
Thus, I also put myself in your shoes and ask myself, ‘What would I expect of my lawyer?’ Sometimes clients don’t have crystal-clear expectations on the front end, as this may be their first rodeo (to borrow a phrase from my cowboy husband). Many, many of my clients have never worked with an attorney before and thus aren’t sure what to expect.
So … the million dollar question. How do I meet client expectations, when clients aren’t even sure what those expectations are?
During my 13 years of legal practice, I’ve had some time to think about this. The result - HERE IS THE LIST of what I think YOU should expect from your lawyer. He or she should:
- Charge reasonable fees – and flat fees where possible
- Ask for your feedback throughout the process, listen to it, and integrate it into the process
- Understand your individual situation, plans and goals – this includes identifying actual or potential problems
- Assist you in avoiding problems where possible
- Solve problems (that weren’t avoided/able)
- Consider money – how you can save and keep it
- Offer expertise – depth and breadth – in the law
- Understand the nature of your business/industry/personal situation – whatever is relevant to providing the legal counsel you seek
- Communicate timely and appropriately with you regarding your matter
- Act in a manner that is trustworthy, respectful and courteous
- Provide prompt and understandable billing – with no surprises as to fees and expenses
- Advocate for your interests
- Provide guidance and advice that is responsive to your specific needs
- Refer you to other trusted and qualified professionals when your situation requires assistance outside the scope of your attorney’s expertise
On my list of resolutions for 2011 is to provide each client with this list of expectations, and ask them to comment/add as they see fit. Constant attention to acknowledging my clients’ expectations makes it much more likely that I will meet them successfully.
HOWEVER . . . because I view my work with clients as a partnership, there’s a second part to this equation. In order to meet client expectations, there are some things that *I* expect as well. Stay tuned for that list . . .
Change is in the air!
There’s a good reason for the time that’s passed since my last blog post – I’ve created a new law firm with another Franklin attorney, Christina Daugherty. Our new venture – C²Law :: creative legal counsel – is located at the Factory in Franklin, in a space overlooking the Artist Row area in the main building.
Christina and I were co-founders and partners at Harpeth Law Group, PLLC, which was the predecessor to my HarpethLaw practice. She moved her practice to Nashville to better serve her clients north of Franklin, but she soon realized that she missed the pace of worklife – and the great community of clients and fellow attorneys – here in Williamson County.
In our new venture, we both focus our practice on those areas in which we have depth of experience and expertise. I will continue my estate planning, elder law and business law practice, and Christina will be offering legal counsel in these areas:
- General civil + business litigation
- Family + juvenile law
- Criminal defense
- Personal injury
You can visit our brand new website for more information about what we do, and how and why we do it: www.csquaredlaw.com
I will be posting very soon with more information about our practice areas and the unique services we’re offering our clients at C²Law (pronounced ‘C squared law’). For instance, we now create an online portal for each client – called a client extranet – that gives clients instant, 24-hour SECURE access to all communication and documents in their matter. This revolutionizes communication with clients, keeping all information organized and accessible by both clients and their legal counsel. It also creates greater efficiency, which means we can do more work at less expense for our clients.
Stay tuned for further updates – and stop in to see our new space!
C²Law :: creative legal counsel
In the Factory
230 Franklin Road, Suite 12-I
Franklin, Tennessee 37064
615.595.7776
