To me, hiring a lawyer is a big deal. I wouldn’t want to hire a lawyer if I didn’t have a situation that required one. When someone contacts us, I take it very seriously and respect that the person calling me probably wishes that they didn’t have to.
Unfortunately, many lawyers (none of which are in our state wide network) feel differently. Maybe they’ll talk to you on the phone at first, maybe they’ll even meet with you. But for a big part of the case, all of your contact is with their secretary or paralegal.
I’m aware of this because a stunning number of people who call me don’t even know the name of their attorney. At first I thought it was the fault of the injured workers because how could you hire an attorney and not know their name.
But then I realized it’s the fault of the attorney. How can you take on a client and be invested in their lives yet not spend enough time with them that they know who you are. If you aren’t at least sending a letter every 90 days or so, you are probably failing.
What happens is that these larger firms who do a lot of advertising and take on almost every case that comes through the door, end up having too large of a case load per attorney. So to handle the cases they have cheap support staffs do a lot or or all of the communication.
It’s not even just big firms. There’s one firm in town who is just one lawyer, but he has a support staff of five people. Those five non-attorneys, from what I hear, do everything on a case except take it to trial. It’s good for the lawyer, but not good for the clients.
So if you’ve hired an attorney and don’t know their name, that is probably a sign that you don’t have the right attorney. I imagine you know who your doctor is and your kid’s teacher too. Your lawyer should be reaching out and establishing a relationship with you.
