Keeping Clients Informed Pays Big Dividends

by Cheryl Stephens

Are effective client communications a frill -- much less important than technical legal competence -- or are they a hallmark of quality service? Let's consider how client communications affect B.C. legal practice.

There were over 1000 claims made against lawyers to PLI Claims in 1994. Thirty-one percent of those concerned real estate and commercial law matters.

Adam Whitcombe is underwriting manager for PLI Claims and claims examiner in the real estate and corporate commercial areas. In February, Whitcombe told the Okanagan Property and Commercial Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association that most claims could be avoided.

In lending transactions, poor client communications is the number one cause of complaint. After problems arising from "insufficient review", poor client communication is the most frequent cause for complaints in real estate and corporate commercial transactions. In real estate transactions, "insufficient review" often arises from failing to explain to clients all they should know about the encumbrances.

One senior litigator told his legal assistant not to waste her time on the phone answering client questions -- he wasn't about to spend his time doing it. Inevitably, Law Society personnel ended up at his door.

Having good client relations and effective communications is not difficult and doesn't require a lot of time nursing individual clients through standard processes. Most legal matters are fairly routine and the exceptions are often predictable. So are the solutions to your communications problems.

Client communications was one issue for Milton Zwicker when he spoke to the Law Management Section two years ago. Zwicker's own client communications begin with the law firm "mission statement" hanging on his office wall. For conveyancing clients, Zwicker developed a useful communications tool. He produced a real-estate-conveyance flow chart which he produces as a laminated, one-page document about the size of a dinner-table placemat.

When clients call Zwicker's office to inquire about the status of their conveyances, the office staff can say something like: "Take a look at the flow chart; we are at step 23. As you can see, we are waiting for...." Clients are happy to have the information easy-to-hand, and office staff are happy to have easy answers that get them off the phone quickly.

At Vancouver Community College, I teach a legal communications course to legal assistants. I can always draw legal assistants into a discussion of effective client communications by asking them to identify the one issue with clients that takes up the most of their time. Then I ask them to prepare a written document that provides clients with the information they need in that situation.

I call these documents "client management aids" because they:

give clients aid by providing them with the information they need or want,
manage clients for the law firm by reducing the amount of time needed to explain things to clients individually,
aid in reducing the likelihood that a complaint will be made about poor communications.

My favourite examples of client management aids are variations of Zwicker's flow chart. One day I expect to receive a litigation flow chart that looks like a "Snakes and Ladders" gameboard. So far, my students have prepared these law-gameboards on

incorporation and company organization
residential conveyance procedures as seen from the point of view of the purchaser
residential conveyance procedures as seen from the point of view of the vendor

Legal assistants in every field have proven capable of writing excellent checklists, firm brochures, and process outlines that provide useful, reassuring information to clients and time-savings to law firms. Let your legal assistant or senior secretary prepare standard-form client information documents for your firm.

Remember that one business issue you face is how to bring your clients back to you the next time they need a lawyer. Paying more attention to finished matters will give the client a better attitude to you and your firm. Send "closure" letters that wrap up the file and express your appreciation of the client's business -- apart from the final billing, and use a client-services questionnaire that asks "how did we do?".

Here is a sample of other client-management-aids I've seen:

a description of the process in registering a trademark,
a description of the document discovery process with a listing of examples of relevant documents and examples of third-parties who are likely to have relevant documents,
a description of an examination for discovery and how to prepare for it,
a waiver form with a full explanation on the reverse,
a contract-term checklist for a specialized-business client,
a plain-language records office agreement,
an explanatory document "what you need to know about wills" with a questionnaire to be completed and brought to the first interview,
a "steps in a lawsuit" brochure with places for the client to note important dates and details.