Good Client Relations

The Key to Succe$$

by Stuart A. Forsyth

Your phone is ringing. It’s a new client who wants to talk with you about a serious legal problem. Wait. Think before you pick up the phone, because you are about to do something they didn’t teach you in law school: relating to your clients. Studies show that how well lawyers relate to their clients is just as important to their success as all those other things they did teach you in law school. You should be aware of this fact, and take it into account in conducting your practice.

What Clients Think About Lawyers

For years surveys have shown that clients generally like their own lawyer but do not like the other side’s lawyer. Perhaps that is a natural cost of our adversarial system. But a new, disturbing trend is developing. Recent surveys reveal that growing numbers of clients do not like their own lawyer, either. State Bar data indicates that poor relationships with clients are triggering numerous malpractice claims, fee disputes and complaints to the State Bar — adding significantly to lawyers’ costs in time and money.

The public ranks lawyers 56th in honesty and integrity out of a list of 71 professions. Lawyers, for example, rank ahead of real estate agents, local politicians, prostitutes and drug dealers—but behind cab drivers, newspaper reporters, stockbrokers, TV talk show hosts and many, many others. Recall the last time you took a cab; the public trusts the honesty and integrity of that cab driver more than yours as a lawyer. Of all the traditional honored professions, the public perceives lawyers as having the least honesty and integrity.

According to the 1995 Hart survey conducted by the American Bar Association, 56 percent of clients have an unfavorable impression of their own lawyers. Only 38 percent have a favorable impression. And a concurrent poll conducted by the National Law Journal indicated that those clients who use lawyers the most, like them the least.

The ABA survey showed that our clients think we are knowledgeable and able to solve problems. But they do not think that we put them first or that we are dedicated to their rights. They do not view us as honest, ethical, easily understood or compassionate. Indeed, we are perceived as being greedy and making too much money.

Is this because we are failing to deliver competent legal services? No. The studies show that lawyers usually do not fail in the law, i.e., technical competence.

Lawyers fail most often in communicating with clients, reaching agreements about fees and managing their practices — the "business" side of the practice of law. In a way this should not be surprising. How many of us even met a client in law school? Most of us were never taught the business of practicing law, nor how to relate effectively to our clients.

What Clients Really Want From Their Lawyers

So what do clients want? Studies have shown that clients want their lawyers to be dedicated and communicative, and (surprisingly) they want these two things even more than they want their lawyers to be competent or fair with fees.

Of course clients want quality legal services, and they do expect their lawyers to be competent. But we do not get much credit for our legal competence because that is the essence of the definition of a profession: competence. Our clients expect us to be competent precisely because we are members of the legal profession.

Interestingly, what clients really want is good customer service and common business courtesy. They are willing to pay to get it. They are quite able to judge whether or not they have received it and to complain when they haven’t. Many clients use customer service and courtesy — not competency — to evaluate lawyers.

We know from the business world that customers want service, value and respect.

Your clients want quality legal services, reasonable fees, communication from you and your commitment to them and their goals.

Complaints to the State Bar

Clients are complaining in growing numbers. On average, someone contacts the State Bar to complain about the conduct of one out of every four lawyers in Arizona, each and every year.

Many of these complaints involve problems in communication, and two-thirds come from just five areas of practice: domestic relations, torts, criminal law, bankruptcy and wills and estates.

What are clients complaining about? The number one complaint is, "My attorney won’t return my telephone calls!" Failure to respond to written communications is the sixth most frequent complaint.

Have you ever ordered something from a mail-order company, and when the package arrived you discovered they had sent the wrong item? You call the company to straighten out the order, but they will not take the merchandise back without a "return authorization number." The person you are talking with can’t give you one, and the person who can is out to lunch, so they take your number and promise to call back. But they don’t. You call again and ask for the person who can help, but he or she is busy on another call so you leave your number again. After a few days of this you finally get the return authorization number and ship the merchandise back. How do you feel about that mail order company? Will you ever do business with them again? What will you tell your friends about them?

That’s exactly how far too many clients feel about their own lawyers today. They are frustrated because they have retained a lawyer to look out for their best interests and now they can’t get in touch with their own lawyer. The trust which is at the very heart of the attorney-client relationship begins to erode, and clients start to wonder if their lawyer is looking out for his or her own interests more than the client’s interests.

Malpractice Claims

These dissatisfied clients have significant and costly impacts in other areas, too. Lack of competence in communication skills and misunderstandings concerning fees are listed by Oregon’s Professional Liability Fund as two of the five major causes of malpractice losses. One malpractice carrier has estimated that 40 percent of the claims made against its insured lawyers are nothing but client relations problems. They will not pay a single penny in substantive liability, but they sure will pay to defend them; and the cost of defense will show up in your malpractice insurance premiums.

If you talk to those in the industry, they have a very interesting saying: "Clients don’t sue lawyers they like, even when they have committed malpractice; clients do sue lawyers they don’t like, even when they haven’t committed malpractice." We tend to think of malpractice in substantive terms: did we do anything wrong? But that’s not what causes the lawsuit. The lawsuit is triggered by how the client feels about the lawyer.

Fee Disputes

The public’s attitude towards lawyers’ fees has changed dramatically in the past few years. A 1986 poll by the National Law Journal revealed that about 22 percent of the public perceived lawyers’ fees as too high; by 1993 that figure had jumped to 42 percent.

A 1992 California fee arbitration study found that 94 percent of fee disputes could have been avoided entirely if the lawyer had done just two things: (1) improved communication with the client and (2) furnished a written fee agreement.

What Can We Do as a Profession?

The most important thing we can do is to recognize that we have a problem and take responsibility for solving it.

As Joan D. Johnson, Director of Loss Prevention/Underwriting for the Oregon Professional Liability Fund, has observed: "The real problems are human, common sense problems. For example, lawyers don’t know how to talk to their clients, especially about fees."

Lawyers are wonderful problem solvers, and we need to use those skills for our own benefit. We need to realize that this problem is not just about image; it is about our conduct. The many clients who have experienced poor business relations with their own lawyers are a major reason for public dissatisfaction with the legal profession as a whole.

The most powerful influence shaping the image of Arizona lawyers is the day-to-day conduct of each of us as lawyers with our clients and colleagues. That’s why the ABA suggests that this problem be addressed one client at a time.

What can you do to be part of the solution? Begin to see your clients as customers and as sources of referrals. Studies show that most clients retain and relate to individual lawyers, not law firms. As much as 80 percent of your future clients will come from word-of-mouth referrals by your current and former clients. Practice common business courtesy in dealing with your clients. Try to see things from their perspective and treat them as you would like to be treated if you were in their situation.

What Can You Do to Create and Maintain Good Client Relations?

Take responsibility for creating and maintaining good client relations in your own law practice. The practice of law is not just a profession; it is a service profession. Broaden the definition of your own job: go beyond just solving legal problems and encompass how well you and your office relate to your clients (and others) while solving them. Furnish quality legal services and good customer service. Creating and maintaining good client relations is your responsibility.

Establish a comfortable setting for meeting with your clients. Some lawyers like to meet with their clients around a conference table (particularly a round one) rather than from behind a desk to create a more cooperative, less imposing atmosphere. The area should be free of clutter (especially other client files!) so that your clients can feel that they have your complete and undivided attention. For the same reason, you should hold all telephone calls during client conferences; if you do need to take a call, let your clients know in advance that your meeting may be interrupted. Items which reflect your hobbies or personal interests can be icebreakers and help you appear more personable. You should also take note of your clients’ personal interests to show that you are interested in them as people as well as sources of business.

Recognize that most of your clients are not like you. Thousands, if not millions, of people in all walks of life have taken the Myers/Briggs personality type indicator tests. The results show that the average person (who is likely to be your client) is very different from the average lawyer. Lawyers tend to be more introverted, more intuitive, more focused on thinking and more judging than the general population.

Listen actively to your client. Unfortunately, as lawyers we are trained to listen to others just long enough to get the gist of their argument; then we stop listening and focus on what we are going to say when they finish talking. We often project that we are busy and interrupt others to get them to stop talking. We focus on the clock instead of the client. Set aside plenty of time to simply listen to your client during the initial interview. Understand your client’s real goals (not just the narrow legal issues presented) so you know how your representation fits into what the client wants to achieve. Create a partnership with your client to achieve the goals. Your client knows the facts and you know the law; share the law with your client and involve your client in your representation efforts.

Discuss fees during your first meeting with a new client, and furnish and explain your written fee agreement. Make sure your client understands all incidental charges. From a client relations standpoint, it is not enough to tell your client later when a conflict arises that it’s in the written fee agreement that the client signed. To clients, fee agreements are often like car loan papers: nobody reads them. Take time to explain incidental charges so clients are not surprised by them on your billings. Consider offering your clients an opportunity to reduce costs (e.g., photocopying) by doing some things themselves.

Introduce your staff to your clients in a way that shows they are valued members of your team. Let your clients know that they will be helping you. When clients later come into contact with your staff, they will be real people with faces and names — not just voices on the phone. Make sure your clients view your staff as facilitators (not barriers) to communication with you.

Share your work with your client promptly as you do it. Most clients do not know what you do. They do not see you do it, and they are not equipped to judge the professional quality of the legal services you render. But they are well equipped to judge the customer service you provide — and they do!

Keep your clients informed about the status of their matters. You may get so busy doing legal work for your clients that you forget to tell them what you are doing. Or nothing may be happening in a case, and so you don’t tell your client anything. Both are mistakes that contribute to poor communication. Regular communication with your clients — even when nothing is happening in their cases — lets them know that you are thinking about them and their matters. Status reports become particularly important when a client has a matter that may be dormant for some period of time, such as a lawsuit. Call your clients with oral status reports if you can. Direct personal communication from you strengthens the attorney-client relationship.

Return all telephone calls and acknowledge all correspondence. Agree with your client in advance on a pattern of communication that will work for both of you. Remember that in communicating with your clients, you are not just conveying information, you are nurturing a relationship.

Educate your client about the matter for which you are retained, and explain legal terms as you go along. Make sure your client’s expectations of you are clear and realistic, and adjust them promptly in light of any changed circumstances or new developments.

Ask for feedback from your clients about whether you are providing good customer service in your law practice. At the close of a case, send your clients a written survey to find out what they thought of your services. (One lawyer I know sends such a survey one month after representation begins and meets with the client to discuss any areas of dissatisfaction.)

Ask your colleagues about client relations. Create peer and mentoring groups where you can talk not just about the legal problems you are dealing with, but also the real human relations problems involved in the practice of law.

Apply the platinum rule in relating to your clients. The Golden Rule asks us to "do unto others as we would have them do unto us." That doesn’t work very well when our clients are so different from us. We need to apply the Platinum Rule: "do unto others as they would have done unto them." We need to treat them as they want to be treated — not just the way we would like to be treated.

Treat your clients like customers. You want them to be so satisfied with how you have treated them that yours is the name that pops into their minds whenever someone asks if they know a good lawyer.

By thoughtfully applying these general principles in the unique environment of our own practices, we can turn our clients into satisfied customers, enhancing our own individual reputations and the stature of our profession as a whole.

A satisfied client will tell ten other people (even if he or she does not tell you!), will come back again in the future, and will refer other clients to you. The vast majority of your future clients will come from your current and former clients because this is still a word-of-mouth, reputation-based profession. That’s why good client relations really is the key to your success.

When the Phone Won’t Stop Ringing

Now comes the tough part. This all sounds so simple. It’s common sense, and it’s easy to do when we have the time. It gets harder in a growing, busy, under-staffed practice.

Make your personal job description as a lawyer broad enough to include relating well to your clients as a major task. Periodically stop and assess how you are performing in this part of your job. Plan your practice as it grows to ensure that good client relations are always nurtured as a vital component.

Soon, when the phone rings in your busy and successful practice, you will not feel harassed. Instead you will see an opportunity to satisfy your clients’ needs and develop future business. Your personal satisfaction from the practice of law will be high because you have practiced good client relations as well as good law.

Additional Reading

Ewalt, Henry W., Through the Client’s Eyes: New Approaches to Get Clients to Hire You Again and Again. American Bar Association, 1994.

Foonberg, Jay, How to Get and Keep Good Clients, National Academy of Law, Ethics & Management, Inc., 1990, (2nd Ed).

LeBoeuf, Michael, Ph.D., How to Win Customers and Keep Them For Life, Berkeley Books, 1987.

Orenstein, Theodore P., Editor, Survival Skills for Practicing Lawyers: Best Articles From Law Practice Management Magazine, American Bar Association, 1994.

Rodgers, Richard K., Marketing Legal Services: Developing and Growing Client Relationships for the 1990s, The Kelly Rodgers Group, 1992.

State Bar of California, Servicing the Needs of Your Clients — The Client Satisfaction Survey, 1955.

Treacy, Michael & Wiersema, Fred, The Discipline of Market Leaders, Addison-Wesley Publishing House, 1995.

Willingham, Ron, Hey, I’m the Customer, Prentice Hall, 1992.

Stuart A. Forsyth is the Executive Director of the State Bar of Arizona. He wishes to thank Kiyoko Tatsui, former Director of the Office of Client Relations at the State Bar of California, for her assistance in preparing an earlier version of this article.