PRESENTATION OUTLINE
How to work effectively with your attorney
Is this really necessary? To spend time on this subject?
Why is that? Why is there such dissatisfaction with attorneys?
Ed: process/structure driven and it's people/expectations driven
What are the biggest complaints?
Ed: lack of communication, billing, no connection
Ed: don't return phone calls
Ed: keep them in the dark
Ed: have their own agenda
Ed: #1 - know how your attorney bills. Do they bill every 6 minutes or every 10 minutes? You can the number to be smaller.
Ed: grouping questions makes answering them more efficient. And more effective. Going back and forth like it's a chat session is incredibly inefficient and, therefore, expensive.
Ed: schedule phone calls versus making them on the fly. Same issues.
Ed: it's cheaper if you do some of the work.
Ed: for example, you could go through your financial records and organize them or have your attorney do it.
Ed: or, you could hire another professional who doesn't charge as much.
Ed: rule of thumb, only use your attorney for work that only he/she can do. Don't use your attorney as a therapist. Don't use your attorney as your financial advisor. Or, your health coach.
Ed: Clients want a connection with their attorney.
How do you connect with people?
You spend time with them.
Ed: Problem.
Do you want to spend $300 an hour to help create a connection
Ed: Other complaints:
didn't fight enough
rolled over, intimidated
Ed: defensive, combative, argumentative
Control what you can control
Can't control the structure
Can control you
Ed: step one, put yourself in their shoes.
what a typical week looks like
Ed: How long does it take for them to return calls or emails? A lot of attorneys say "within 24 hours."
Okay, so putting yourself in the shoes of your attorney is step 1. What else should women be doing or asking?
Ed: before I wrote that first check, I'd insist on an "expectations" meeting
Ed:
You've put them on notice.
how do you work best with your attorney?
Ed: understand, this a job for your attorney. It's not their life. They're invested in your case but not like you are.
Ed: How you treat them matters. They're just as human as you are. It's not okay to be a jackass just because you're paying them $300 an hour.
Ed: Make it easy to work with you.
Tell them you want to develop a strong working relationship with them.
Ed: Ask them what are the attributes and behaviors of their best client relationships?
Shouldn't it be up to the attorney to "fix" this problem?
Or, prevent it from occurring in the first place?
Ed: sure in an ideal world.
Don't leave to chance.