For the first article in our series about quality in lawfirms, this month we’re focusing on the importance of frequent communication with your fellow lawyers and clients.
Last month we interviewed a Dutch EJ lawyer who received an award for the quality of his service. He attributed this award to a simple fact : 'We answer the phone !'
This month, we went a little further and asked other lawyers in other countries : what makes a quality lawyer ? Is communication an important factor ?
Cristina Trelea (EJ Romania) answered a few questions about what she feels is important in a lawyer. 'I feel a responsibility towards my clients, therefore, when choosing and recommending a lawyer, I am looking for professionalism and responsiveness'. The idea that a lawyer must be able to answer and to be reactive seems important to most professionals. 'Being a lawyer is not only a profession', she says, 'It is more than that. You should be born to do it. You should love it, you should enjoy it. You should do it with all your soul, with all your power and, at the end of the day, to feel the satisfaction of work well done'.
Thus, a passionate lawyer is a good lawyer. And a passionate lawyer is also available. Helen Hamilton-Shaw is the Director of Services for Lawnet, the British branch of Eurojuris. Lawnet just created a mark of excellence, a label to be given to lawyers over number of satisfaction-based criteria. In the process of establishing this mark, Helen discovered how important communication is, not only between lawyers, but also and especially for clients themselves: ' In the last 18 months, we did a lot of work about quality services, for the creation of our mark of excellence. We tried to find what was important for customers. We did extensive research, read a lot of things, such as publications by the Ombudsman and other organisations like the Legal Services Board, a public institution in the UK about legal professions. We realised that there are more complaints from customers about the absence of communication than about poor legal services !' An interesting discovery : most clients are satisfied with their lawyers, but complain about not being able to reach them.
'Now we focus on how to support our lawfirms in this direction', Helen explains. 'We developed a client services charter with suggestions about it. We asked some firms for advice, and we will offer training on that matter'.
Helen and her team carried out an exercise to understand the reality of lawyer's communication skills – or lack thereof ! This experience was ‘mystery shopping’, a technique sometimes used in retail to determine the quality of services. The idea is that you pretend to be a customer, and take notes about the quality of service you receive. 'With a lawfirm it is different, of course. But you can check some things : how professional was the space in which you are welcomed, how were you greeted, etc. We go from initial inquiry to potential instruction'. This allowed Helen and her team to check the quality of communication and detect loopholes to establish guidelines.
A general piece of advice ? 'Remember that the client doesn't necessarily understand the process ! They want contact even when nothing progresses. Keep them updated regularly'. Helen definitely echoes what our Dutch award-winning lawyer said last month : pick up the phone every time it rings. When told about him, Helen exclaimed : 'I very much agree!'
