Keep Your Client 'On Board!'

' Return phone calls. One of the most important ways to keep clients informed, obviously, is returning their phone calls. Sometimes, we, as counsel, get so busy with other matters that we think we can postpone that phone call until tomorrow. We may forget how important it is to a client to hear from his or her lawyer within a reasonable time. Even if the lawyer cannot call, a phone call from the paralegal or secretary indicating that the attorney is in court or on vacation and unable to return the call, and allowing the client to convey his or her information, knowing that it will be passed on, is certainly helpful. If an emergency has arisen, another attorney can be designated to handle the problem.

' Answer letters. Answering written correspondence, and making sure that the client is copied in on all letters, is a second technique. Sometimes, when a case is transferred to a second lawyer and that lawyer asks for a copy of the client's files, he or she is shocked to discover that the client does not have a copy of the file. How can clients make reasonable decisions about their cases without knowing what is happening between counsel and seeing copies of information that affects their lives? When clients do not have any part of their file, it is rarely because they have not kept a file, but, rather, because the lawyer has not copied them on every piece of correspondence that has either come in or gone out. It is a very simple technique to copy clients on all outgoing correspondence and ensure that they receive copies of all incoming correspondence. They are certainly entitled to have copies of all pleadings in their case, as well as orders that have been issued.

' Keep a ledger. A third technique is to keep, and copy the client on, an organized ledger of all discovery that has been received. Such a ledger would include an organization of documents by type of document. For example, all documents necessary to prove a support, alimony or separate maintenance case might be compiled in one area. Listings of tax returns, state returns, corporate returns, K-'s, pay stubs, and 1099s might fall into that category. A second category might include documents necessary to prove the marital 'pot.' This would include, by way of example, appraisals of real estate, pensions, or businesses, corporate documents, bank statements, brokerage statements, money market statements, and stocks and bonds listings. A third category might include documents necessary for a custody trial including custody expert reports, report cards, photographs, letters, cards and other things that might come up in a custody case. A simple listing of those areas and a documentation of the receipt of each of these as they come in, will not only keep the file organized, but will enable the lawyer to send this occasionally to the client to say these are the documents we have, and request whether there are any documents that should be added to this list or should be requested.

Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin, Esq., is the managing partner of the Family Law Department of Wolf Block, Shore and Solis-Cohen, LLP, Norristown, PA, and serves on the Board of Editors of this newsletter.

As lawyers, we spend a lot of time keeping ourselves current on the law, attending continuing legal education programs, and learning how to deal with experts. Sometimes, in the middle of our frenzied search for a latest case and the latest technique, we need to get back to the basics. One of the most important basics about which we should remind ourselves is the need for good client communication. While we are busy being lawyers negotiating with the other side, and preparing for trial, sometimes we have to remember that the client needs to be kept abreast of what we are doing and made a part of it. After all, this is their case, not ours.

The Rules of Professional Conduct address the need to keep the client 'informed about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information.' This rule is important not only in order to allow clients to make informed decisions about their case, but also to keep good attorney-client relationships.

There are many techniques for keeping the client 'on board':

' Return phone calls. One of the most important ways to keep clients informed, obviously, is returning their phone calls. Sometimes, we, as counsel, get so busy with other matters that we think we can postpone that phone call until tomorrow. We may forget how important it is to a client to hear from his or her lawyer within a reasonable time. Even if the lawyer cannot call, a phone call from the paralegal or secretary indicating that the attorney is in court or on vacation and unable to return the call, and allowing the client to convey his or her information, knowing that it will be passed on, is certainly helpful. If an emergency has arisen, another attorney can be designated to handle the problem.

' Answer letters. Answering written correspondence, and making sure that the client is copied in on all letters, is a second technique. Sometimes, when a case is transferred to a second lawyer and that lawyer asks for a copy of the client's files, he or she is shocked to discover that the client does not have a copy of the file. How can clients make reasonable decisions about their cases without knowing what is happening between counsel and seeing copies of information that affects their lives? When clients do not have any part of their file, it is rarely because they have not kept a file, but, rather, because the lawyer has not copied them on every piece of correspondence that has either come in or gone out. It is a very simple technique to copy clients on all outgoing correspondence and ensure that they receive copies of all incoming correspondence. They are certainly entitled to have copies of all pleadings in their case, as well as orders that have been issued.

' Keep a ledger. A third technique is to keep, and copy the client on, an organized ledger of all discovery that has been received. Such a ledger would include an organization of documents by type of document. For example, all documents necessary to prove a support, alimony or separate maintenance case might be compiled in one area. Listings of tax returns, state returns, corporate returns, K-'s, pay stubs, and 1099s might fall into that category. A second category might include documents necessary to prove the marital 'pot.' This would include, by way of example, appraisals of real estate, pensions, or businesses, corporate documents, bank statements, brokerage statements, money market statements, and stocks and bonds listings. A third category might include documents necessary for a custody trial including custody expert reports, report cards, photographs, letters, cards and other things that might come up in a custody case. A simple listing of those areas and a documentation of the receipt of each of these as they come in, will not only keep the file organized, but will enable the lawyer to send this occasionally to the client to say these are the documents we have, and request whether there are any documents that should be added to this list or should be requested.

Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin, Esq., is the managing partner of the Family Law Department of Wolf Block, Shore and Solis-Cohen, LLP, Norristown, PA, and serves on the Board of Editors of this newsletter.