What Clients Didn't Like
“I get too many ridiculous questions from younger lawyers. More seasoned lawyers can moderate the ridiculous questions arising from said lawyers and can guess 90% of the correct answers.”
“It frustrates me when my in-house lawyers don't realize that they are in the client service business, meaning that we need to be responsive and clear in our advice and work.
The best compliment my team can receive is someone actively seeking our advice because they know that we will be additive and won't block what they are trying to achieve.”“I become frustrated with verbosity and trying to look smart knowledge vs briefness and business guidance.”
“I like it when I'm explained something in plain language. It's amazing to me how often I get thrown legal jargon, which makes the topic confusing, especially when citing rules and regulations. Fine to cite a regulation, but explain it to me in plain English.”
“Lack of detail and sloppy mistakes.”
“My biggest irritant has been lawyers who aren't timely. Particular example was a trust attorney who was taking way too long turning around changes for us. We pushed back and got excuses about “work from home” (during COVID) making it more difficult to access docs. That may be the case, but then they need to set our expectations properly rather than not delivering when they said they would. Oh, then there was that time a law firm decided not to work with me anymore because I wasn't going to be a big enough client moving forward. Fuck those fucking fucks. (You may not want to quote that part.)”
“The most common and by far the worse is the Non Communicator. They tell you next to nothing but your charges and your court date. They could be really good lawyers and extremely busy fighting for their client. But from that person's perspective, who is waiting for events to unfold that will certainly change their lives forever, that absence of communication is a clear sign that the lawyer is doing little to nothing.
Then there is the Volume Communicator. This kind of lawyer confuses the act of sending clients everything they file with actual communication. Such a thing is good for their clients' files but let's face it, they might have to hire another lawyer to explain what half those filings are and what they mean.”“I can't stand it when my attorney nitpicks details, or at least if/when I don't understand the point behind the nit.”
“I hate legal mumbo jumbo. It's the lawyer's job to explain it to me in a way that I can understand.”
“It's frustrating when lawyers do extra work that isn't adding value or don't clarify what is needed to make sure the deliverable is on scope and keeps costs low. It's also frustrating when clients have to keep checking in on the progress of work a lawyer is doing because the lawyer is not proactive in communication or moving at the past of the business.”
“It frustrates me when senior lawyers join client calls for perception's sake, but they do not actively contribute to the conversation. If a junior lawyer is running the show, don't charge the client for perception."
“Conflict-avoidant lawyers. How can you be a lawyer and avoid conflict?”
“I hate how there is very little feedback on billing and time spent until the surprise invoice arrives. If I'd known you were going to spend 4 hours reviewing that contract and emailing me, I never would have sent it over; the deal is immaterial to our business!”
“I want my lawyer to feel like a loyal guard dog protecting me during a conflict. More important, when a company is bigger and starts to have things like lawsuits, employee issues, etc., come into play. I've had too many conflict-avoidant lawyers.”
“Me finding mistakes they've made in legal documents.”
“I absolutely cannot stand it when legal bills are a surprise. Give me a quote for something, then let me know when we're getting close to going over that amount, then let me know when we're 10% over, 20% over, etc.
We had an acquisition once, where we were told “it would be about $250–$300K.” Bill came back at $750K. WTF? Yes it ended up being a complicated M&A, but they should have been communicating with us all along, rather than receive a shock like that.”By no means do we consider this an exhaustive list, but there are some common themes that present themselves. In no particular order of importance:
1. Be a teacher. Clients are smart. Leaders are curious by nature. They don't just want you to do the work, but learn in the process.
2. Communication is key. Don't speak in legalese. Keep in contact about the issue at hand. It is all about quality of communications over volume.
3. Understand their business. Even folks talking about hiring litigators want you to understand their business. Law firms talk about this all the time, but few lawyers actually listen to this advice.
4. Focus on the problem, not the small stuff.
5. Be responsive. Make your clients feel valued and that you care about them. We've talked about empathy a lot, but here it is again being asked for by the clients.
6. Be creative. Find solutions to the problem, not just identify the problem. This is perhaps one of the biggest differences between average and great lawyers.
7. See around corners. By learning the business, being empathetic, and getting to know your client, you can predict future issues and strategize accordingly.
8. Be a partner. People want partners not hired guns.
9. Be careful with billing. Communicate so no surprises happen.
10. Deal with conflict. Be willing to step up on behalf of your client.
11. Play the long game. The lawyer who dropped the client (and the client's reaction with many F-bombs) creates a long memory. This client would later go on to be a leader in a large venture capital firm and never used the firm again. Ouch.
12. Don't make mistakes. Clients finding mistakes is always a bad thing.
We think the biggest piece of advice is, as much as possible, put yourself in the shoes of your client all the time, every time. What would you want in your lawyer if you were on the other side? It's not rocket science, but you do need to be thoughtful.