The Welcome Letter: Setting Client Expectations

Adriana de la Torriente
Torriente Marum, LLC
www.torrientemarum.com

My first job out of undergrad in the late ’90s was in the management consulting practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the big five accounting firms. There I learned the importance of setting and managing client expectations – a skill that served me well in my careers as a management consultant and a software developer. Now in my second (or third) career as an attorney, it is the skill I have found the most transferable from my corporate days to my work as a family law attorney. Whether you are delivering a $5 million software implementation or getting someone divorced, how you set and manage those client expectations make the difference in your client’s experience and your relationship with your client, both of which have long-term effects on your firm’s bottom line. Clients who have unrealistic expectations from the beginning are more likely to be disappointed and not provide your name as a referral in the future.

Clients often have unrealistic expectations of the legal process and its outcomes. An example is the wife who comes in thinking she will get sole custody of her children and her husband will have supervised visitation with the children because he posted a photo of himself on Facebook having a beer at a baseball game two years ago. It is our job as attorneys to set those types of expectations and manage them throughout the course of litigation. But there are other types of expectations that are rarely laid out at the onset of a case. These expectations should be addressed in your Client Welcome Letter.

The client welcome letter should include information about you, your firm, important timelines in their matter, what the client should expect from you, and what you will expect from them. The client welcome letter is mailed to the client within the first few days after you’ve been retained. The letter should be tailored to your practice and the client’s case. At a minimum the letter should contain the following:

Introductory Paragraph. Thank the client for selecting your firm for their representation. Include a copy of the fully executed representation agreement and a copy of the Entry of Appearance in cases where you represent the defendant.

Office, Telephone and Email Expectations. This paragraph should cover your firm’s office hours and message policies.

• Do you return messages by end of business that day or the next day?
• Will you return calls on the weekends or after hours?
• Do you provide clients your mobile number?
• Is email the best way to reach you? Or do you check your email once per week?
• Is it okay if clients just pop in to the office without an appointment?
• Will clients receive copies of all pleadings by mail or by email?

Regardless of your policies, ensure that you adhere to them. If you are in a week-long trial and are unable to return calls as you expect, then you need to ensure that office staff relay that information to clients. If you are a solo without office staff then your voicemail needs to reflect that you are in trial.

What You Expect from the Client. Many clients think that once they retain you their job is done. These clients fail to understand that they are instrumental to the success of their case. I routinely assign my clients homework such as completing their Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit (DRFA), a necessary document in domestic cases. For example, I use the welcome letter to explain the importance of a DRFA and that they will need to update it several times during the pendency of their case (before mediation, before a temporary hearing, before a final trial, etc.). If the client has already been served with discovery requests, the welcome letter should include deadlines for returning responses to interrogatories and documents to you.

Keep in Touch. Along the same lines as the paragraph above, remind clients that they need to stay in touch. If they change their mobile number or their address, they need to inform you.

A Warning about Social Media. Depending on your practice, you may want to remind clients to refrain from posting on Facebook or Twittering during the pendency of their matter. I also encourage my clients to check their privacy settings and to ensure that friends cannot “check them in” or tag photos of them. Attending your brother’s bachelor party may seem innocent enough until you are tagged in a photo with a beer in your hand and “checked in” at the Cheetah by your brother’s college roommate in the middle of a contested custody case. Likewise, posting that you are “feeling 110 percent better after your car accident” may have a detrimental effect on your personal injury case even when you still don’t have full use of your legs.

Whatever your area of practice, setting your clients’ expectations at the get-go, can help keep potential miscommunications at a minimum and maximize your relationship with your clients.