Client Relations

Both the Legal Marketing Blog and Greatest American Lawyer have been pondering what makes a “perfect client.”  I guess the answer is personal.  I know many lawyers who can’t tolerate clients who want to review every document that goes out or ask too many questions.  But for me, what I enjoy most is a client…

I’m not sure what to make of the story described in this article, Law Firm Sues Couple Over Past Legal Fees (7/23/05).  Seems that a couple spent three years fighting to keep a large subdivision from being built near their home, racking up $92,000 in legal fees in the process (in addition to which, they…

I’ve always laughed at those lawyerswho  draft these types of overblown disclaimers, primarily because lawyers should know better.  For that reason, you’ll find no disclaimers at MyShingle because they don’t do any good.  You can say that you’re not creating an attorney-client relationship ten different ways, but the bottom line is that if it looks…

All of us solo and small firm lawyers have experience with those “dog” cases that drive us crazy and often lose us money in the process.  This article, Spotting the Losers, James McElhaney (ABA Journal June 2005) offers some ways to clear the duds off your desk – or pass off cases that may not…

This month’s issue (April 2005) of Law Practice Today is devoted to malpractice – or rather, how to avoid malpractice.  All of the articles are pretty interesting; one in particular that stood out was Carole Curtis’ Dealing With Difficult Clients.  Tips include saving copies of all correspondence, being patient and clear about expectations.  Carole doesn’t…

Even if you own your own practice, don’t forget, you can still lose your job:  according to this article, Law Firms Learn to Measure Client Satisfaction, San Jose Biz Journal (4/8/05),  almost 60 percent of companies have fired or are considering firing at least one of their outside law firms, according to a survey conducted…

This article, In Search of the Perfect Client, Joanne Cronrath Bamberger, Small Firm Business (3/14/05) offers up the standard, perfunctory advice on screening clients.  Red flags include refusal to pay a retainer fee (a sign of future collection difficulties), number of prior attorneys and whether the client seems difficult.  Not much new here. If you…

As we at MyShingle have said many times, a retainer agreement is one of the most important tools that we lawyers have to protect ourselves from unscrupulous or troublesome clients.  It should be obvious though that lawyers can’t use the retainer agreement to protect themselves by cutting off their clients’ rights to file a grievance. …