There’s an interesting conversation going on between Carolyn Elefant (of My Shingle) and Dan Hull (of What About Clients?) that questions “The Paradox of Client Service.“
Ms. Elefant wonders whether:
“…many new lawyers are predisposed to becoming slaves to clients because that’s the role we play in law school (performing on command to the Socratic method) and at firms. “
Coming from the solo’s point of view, she stresses that:
“….you serve clients, but they are not your master. If you don’t serve well, you may lose your clients, but if you subordinate your judgment and business practices to your clients’ demands, (e.g, working for discounted rates or taking unethical positions), you may also find yourself the subject of a bar complaint or out of business.”
I think her point shows some important differences in how solos and firms market themselves. Multi-attorney firms will often talk about a commitment to client service. And that makes sense. But that approach wouldn’t necessarily work for a solo.
And more importantly, her post illustrates a difference in how solos (or small firms) and larger firms do business. Mr. Hull posted a comment that sums it up:
“This is a really hard but great subject. You’ve really hit on something. Client service is as difficult a part of law practice as anything–and the line between really serving clients and being overly-managed by them is even harder. And the smaller your firm, the harder it is, because every client colors your practice when you are small. Personally, I am very eager to please any client and, at the same time, need to be a good lawyer. My starting point for the whole issue is choosing clients very carefully. We must like them…….he point for my firm is to carefully choose clients, and represent only clients we “like”. That means people finding clients “like us”, and who share certain values with us, i.e., be very aggressive, but plan first, and communicate with the client constantly (just as we at my firm tend to over-communicate with each other about everything). If the client is “like you”, or has the same values, it won’t even try to control you out of respect and understanding of the way you work.”
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July 20th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
I did not mean to imply that lawyers should not focus on client service. But client service is not servitude; it’s a proactive role where you need to discern what your clients want and advise them. I see too many young lawyers new to solo practice who view the client as another boss, just as the law firm partner was. They do everything the client wants without question - and that does not always produce the optimal result. It’s that tension, between serving the client, but not being a slave, that I was discussing in my post.
July 21st, 2006 at 9:04 am
I totally understand your point, and I know that you did not mean to imply that lawyers should forget about client service. I’m more interested in the way that lawyers market themselves as being completely devoted to what clients are looking for, but at the same time, there is definitely tension between service and, as you put it, servitude. The part that is most interesting to me is the difference between solos and firms in their approach to marketing. For a firm, it makes sense to be perceived as “completely devoted to our clients needs”, but for solos, that isn’t a great approach because, well, that’s not what a solo wants.