2010 KCMBA President Thomas V. Bender

If You Need Anything, My Name Is Tom

In response to last month’s column about doing something for others, including your local bar, one KCMBA member responded by calling and suggesting that the KC Counselor add a review of area restaurants and bars. I guess I should have been a bit more specific about the kind of “bars” I was talking about, but I was nevertheless glad to see that a reader and bar member did take heed of the call to arms. And, it‘s an interesting idea. With new area restaurants opening…and unfortunately closing…all too frequently, she thought perhaps she could help speed along the survival of the fittest. Her suggestion envisioned a restaurant review from a lawyer’s perspective. Though I wasn’t quite sure what that exactly means (Best bartender under cross-examination or Shortest opening and closing?), the member making the suggestion had vetted the idea with other attorneys who were enthusiastic and had endorsed the idea as viable (as long they were allowed to participate in the review process). Even better, the attorney reviewers would not be paid by the KCMBA for the meals they reviewed and, in turn, would not be paid for their reviews. While perhaps motivated by the power that only a critic capable of bestowing 1 to 5 silver spoons or stars (or in this case gavels) at the end of a meal unquestionably has, the idea for an attorney-sponsored restaurant and bar review is a fun one and will be considered at a future Publications Advisory Board meeting.

I went to dinner soon after I received this call and thought how I would give the selected restaurant a review if I were writing the column. It wasn’t as easy as I thought. The first challenge was to set the standard of the review: Was the restaurant like a federal court case (More formal? Did the waiters take the order from memory? More time? More expense?) Or was the place like municipal court – lots of people to serve; just the basics, but get it done right and fast? Should I dissect the restaurant with sarcastic comments about the food or service (“Hi, if you need anything, my name is John”…wondering wryly what his name would be if I didn’t need anything) or should I recognize that the servers and the owners are doing their best, doing it better on some days than on others, and that my review could in fact have an economic impact on their lives. And then I thought what if my clients (my customers) reviewed my practice and firm? What if all of us, both the bench and the bar, were subject to a Michelin Review?

Attorneys and judges are members of the service industry; and while the type of service varies, the same criteria that are used in reviewing restaurants can be applied with equal effect to our practices and firms. Take a look at your own practice and firm, and imagine how you fare on these four common review criteria:

1.  Atmosphere
2. Service
3. Quality of Product
4. Price

Atmosphere
Let’s start with the initial phone call. Jackson County Judge Tom Clark used to call lawyer’s offices without telling the receptionist he was a judge. Judge Clark knew that most offices would give him special treatment if his title was known, and he thought the attorneys needed to know how their “normal” clients were treated and he would tell them. Unfortunately, the results are not always that impressive. We live in a world of recorded messages and while they may be the most efficient way to handle a large number of calls and while they decrease costs, automated messages lack the atmosphere needed to engender caring and confidence: “Press 1 if you have had a serious personal injury; Press 2 if you need a corporate acquisition” just doesn’t feel right.   Such automated service may now be the trend in today’s service-oriented world, but it just doesn’t fit a professional law office. Our receptionists are our hosts; our telephone and web pages set the tone. How many gavels have yours earned? 

Service
After your clients, potential or existing, are seated, how’s the service? In our profession, our attorneys and assistants are the wait staff. How responsive are they? Do they take time to sit and listen to the client? Do they understand the client’s needs? Do they check in and keep the clients advised about what is going on or do they ignore them, letting the water glass go dry for long periods of time, only responding when the client “catches their sleeve” by e-mail  or phone? Clients are our customers; and like any customers, our clients are generally reasonable if they are kept informed and they become testy when they are ignored. Untimely service is one of the most common complaints seen by the disciplinary committees. People just don’t like being ignored. 

Prompt attention to a client is the threshold requirement for a high service rating. How prompt is your service? Are calls returned within the day? The next business day? The following week?  Or when you remember? Just this morning I listened to the voicemail message of one of our fellow members, “If you leave a message, I promise I will call you back within a day.” A promise of a return call within a day—hmmm…now that’s service! Not all that impressive if it came from a waiter, but for an attorney, I felt better with the promise in hand, particularly since I know that this person has always kept his word. E-mails are the phone calls of today for many, and the same criteria apply. Maybe more so because there is no question about what is being said in a written e-mail…or what wasn’t said…and a clear record is made. You can’t dodge an e-mail like you can a phone call. Are you responding to your e-mails timely, clearly and professionally?   How many gavels have you earned for service?
 
Quality of product
How does your legal product come out of the law firm kitchen? Is it cooked to order? Is it timely? Does it look professional? And does it satisfy the client? This criteria is a little harder to apply because cost is oftentimes a factor; but if you can’t do a professional job based upon the restrictions imposed—then you need to consider whether you should pass on [decline] the order.  Not every case requires that every witness be deposed or that every possible expert be retained up front. And not every newly-formed business needs all of the stock redemption and other agreements in place the first year. It’s a delicate balance, but it will help if you and your staff make certain that the client understands the menu and the order he or she is placing. We must also ensure that the clients’ order is taken down correctly and delivered as promised. Do your clients know what to expect, both in terms of what you will do and what it will the cost? Will your clients leave the table satisfied? You are more or less defined and remembered by your product. Will your customers come back for more?     

Price
How does the price charged for your product compare to what the client receives? Steve Susman, a notable trial attorney in Houston, commented at our last Bench-Bar & Boardroom Conference that a reliance on hourly billing is often counterproductive to achieving a fair result for the legal services rendered. Review your matters and see if you would be happy with the price charged for what was achieved? It is sometimes easy to say that we bill by the hour but only charge for the time spent—but so what? That ignores that the product sometimes is worth only so much. I can imagine my reaction if the chef came out of the kitchen with a $140 hamburger, but told me it was worth it since he spent 14 hours in researching the recipe, then researched to see if the recipe  had been updated and what other chefs were doing in other kitchens, and used two to three sous-chefs to do some of the preparation work (because they were paid less), while still billing for their time too…at the same time charging for plates used to deliver the product. You get the idea. How would you like the restaurant you visit to charge you by the hour for what you order, particularly when you really don’t know what goes in to the preparation? The concept of deciding what your legal product should cost, letting the client decide if he or she wants to pay that price, and then charging just that amount and no more, regardless of the time spent, are difficult to employ—but it has been resonating with attorneys and consumers alike for many years. Now more than ever, we as a profession need to make certain that our clients are getting the biggest bang possible for their buck and that we’re sensitive to the condition of the economy. How does your legal product stack up to the price you are charging? How many gavels are you entitled to here?

In a tough and competitive economy, customers are becoming more aware and demanding of their service providers. If the customer isn’t treated well, if the work isn’t timely and professional, and if the charges aren’t reasonable or what was expected and explained up-front, the customer will be both moving elsewhere and will be less hesitant to complain about your work. Attorneys as consumers are doing likewise. Attorneys who refer cases or matters to other attorneys expect the same good service …probably even better service…from the attorneys they believe they are helping through their referrals. The same criteria apply to the recipients: if the referring attorneys aren’t getting timely responses to their phone calls and e-mails, if the referring attorneys aren’t receiving updated reports and fair treatment from their co-counsel, then the referring attorneys will switch counsel. So look at how you treat both your clients and the attorneys with whom you do business. See how they will rate you. Maybe even be so bold as to ask them to rate you.

The courts are no different in the need to deliver a good product on a timely basis. A litigant-consumer must leave the courthouse feeling that they have been treated fairly. A dissatisfied litigant may not have the luxury of switching courts at a whim, but as a member of the general voting public, every litigant can have a great influence on whether the courts are adequately funded and how judges are retained. The judges already are under a periodic review process, but there is a constant need for them to also review their courthouses and staff to see how they rate in their public service.

Let’s all do a review of our practices and firms to see what we are doing right and what we do to improve our service rating. Making people feel welcome, appreciated and timely-served at a fair price has been and will always be in style. Here’s hoping for “5 Gavels Up” for each of you.