Client Management Archives | Page 3 of 3

Managing Clients and Evaluating Cases: A Personal Injury Lawyer’s Perspective

May 1, 2017

Over the last two years, David Graves has been one of the most prolific trial lawyers in Alabama. I’ve been involved in two or three trials with David and observed him employ his natural charisma and down-home affect to relate and connect with a jury. I’ve seen him have to wrangle clients and combat difficult situations. So I thought this interview with David about managing clients, evaluating cases, and deciding which matters to take to trial, would be a natural follow-up to last week’s voir dire series.

JWR: What do you consider when determining the value of a case?

DG: I determine value of a case based on the damage to the vehicles, the injuries to the client, the venue, who the defendant is, whether it’s an individual or insurance company, and the coverages involved with the insurance companies. Quite frankly, it depends on who the insurance company is as to what the settlement value for the case is versus what I think it’s worth at trial.

JWR: How do set a client’s expectations as to the value of a case?

DG: It’s very important to manage the client’s expectations from the beginning. They need to understand the value of a soft tissue case versus the value of a surgical case or a case with a broken bone. They need to understand the value of an uninsured motorist case versus a case against a third-party defendant. They also need to understand the impact that venue is going to have on a case. So it’s very important from the outset to have that discussion with a new client so that they understand what they’re dealing, so their expectations match the likely outcome of the case and they’ve had an opportunity to kind of wrap their head around all of those issues from the beginning.

JWR: How do you manage a client who thinks they want their “day in court”?

DG: We occasionally get a client who just wants their day in court and that’s okay – they have a right to the court system just like Allstate Insurance. I found a lot of times that a client may think they want their day in court, but once the reality of what that means becomes apparent, they change their mind. I usually have about one client every two years that just that won’t listen that won’t heed my best legal advice on the case and they insist on going to trial. That being said, there are a lot of clients that I take to trial because I think that we can have a better result than what the insurance company has offered. Regardless, when a client wants to try their case that’s what we do. Its an important part of being a trial lawyer and it’s a pleasure to represent those folks and see what the jury is going to do.

JWR: What helps you determine that a case might be right for trial, rather than settlement?

DG: What helps me determine whether a case is better tried then settled really kind of depends on the offer on the case and how the case is situated before the court. An okay or an average offer on a case that is against an underinsured/uninsured motorist carrier is always much easier to try because in a case like that when the jury knows that it’s against the insurance company, I’m the good guy. The defense lawyer defending the big evil insurance company is the bad guy and the jury’s giving him dirty looks in that kind of case. That’s a case that’s a lot easier to try and a lot easier to be in court on. Anything with egregious conduct like a DUI, hit-and-run, texting-and-driving, anything like that will get a jury fired up and is preferable to be in trial rather than to just settle. Obviously, if the settlement offer is high, then that’s something you have to consider, but those are the kind of cases that are better situated for Court.

JWR: How do you communicate to your clients the risk v. reward of taking a case to trial?

DG: When I talk to clients about the risk-reward of going to trial, I try to explain to them the question mark that is the jury panel. That you just don’t know what kind of jury panel you’re going to get to pick from. In Birmingham, for example, I’ve had great juries and I’ve also had horrible juries, so you just don’t know what you’re going to get until you get down there and you do it. I’ve had clients often ask me what do I think the jury is going to do, and even though I’ve tried a bunch of cases, I’ve given up a long time ago trying to figure out what a jury will do. In my experience, I just don’t know what they’re thinking, how they’re feeling, or what they’re going to do with a verdict. I try to explain all of that to a client as we discuss going to trial and trying the case. I tell them about some of the cases I thought I was going to win that I lost, and I tell them about some of the cases that I thought we were likely to lose and we pulled out a victory. I do that to illustrate the unknown factor that is court so that they have an appreciation and an understanding of what we’re getting ready to do and there’s not a surprise if it doesn’t turn out the way we hoped it should.

JWR: What’s your favorite part of trial?

DG: My favorite part at trial is jury selection. I really like interacting with the jurors and engaging with them. I like getting them to talk with me about their feelings and their concerns, the type of case that we’re working on. I feel like I am able to build rapport with him during jury selection and that I’m able to do a lot to further my client’s case and their interest during that part of trial. I feel like a lot of times I get an advantage over the defense at the very beginning during jury selection and that’s probably my favorite part of the case. After that my second-favorite part has got to be closing argument. That’s always fun and everybody likes that, but I think that takes a backseat to the importance of jury selection. The intellectual aspect of jury selection in terms of who are you going to keep and who are you going to strike and are you asking questions to get strikes for cause and can you get those folks off of the jury or get them to strike themselves. I just really enjoy the mental chess behind jury selection.

If you enjoyed this article, you can find more content like it in my new book Building a Better Law Practice.

Buy the book at ShopABA.org, but be sure to subscribe to the blog for your 20% discount.

I’ve interviewed other lawyers on various other topics that you may find interesting: Keith Lee of Associate’s Mind on having a law blog; Portia Porter (author of Can You Stiff Your Divorce Lawyer?) on getting paid by clients; and Steve Heninger on using storytelling to communicate.

Photo by Wake Forest University School of Law.

An Unannounced Visit to a Client’s (Trailer) Home Is a Bad Idea

Apr 6, 2017

I should have known better than to make an unannounced visit to his home. Truthfully though, I did know better, which is why I’d carried a gun. But I left the gun in the car.

We had lost contact with our truck driver over the last few months. He wasn’t responding to phone calls or letters. He wasn’t working anywhere that I knew of. He certainly wasn’t driving trucks anywhere any more, not after failing another drug test. This one a post-accident drug test.

The wreck happened on a Wednesday, but my truck driver had done enough crystal meth over the weekend at the bike rally that his system was still just full of the stuff. Fortunately (if you can call it that), the lady he ran into was a pill-popper who’d been kicked our of pain management not 5 weeks before the accident. Nobody was really hurt, and neither side really wanted to get in front of a jury.

The only way I could think to get in touch with him was to visit his trailer the next time I was over in his neck of the woods. So I did. As I pulled up the gravel driveway, I saw a couple of mutts in the yard. They were largely disinterested in me. I got out of the car, with the letter in hand that I intended to leave shoved between the door and frame, since my client appeared not to be home. A 60-pound mongrel was hovering around the bottom of the steps of the enclosed screened-in porch, but she complied with my efforts to shoo her away.

I popped up the steps and politely knocked on the door. And waited. Then knocked on the door, a bit less politely. And waited. Then banged on the door – either he was in a drunken stupor from which I would awaken him, or he wasn’t home. Waited a little longer, then slid the envelop containing my signed letter into the doorjamb.

Only when I turned around did I discover my peril. There was a third dog – part Rottweiler, part demon, and black as sin. I hadn’t seen him before. But now he had staked himself between me and the only exit. The hair on the back of his bullish neck was standing on end, and as I took a single step forward, the growl that had been low and foreboding became a fierce, imminent warning.

But fortunately, I had read Life of Pi! I needed to slowly back him down without appearing to be the attacking aggressor. No problem, right? If a fictional character could do it to a fictional tiger, I shouldn’t have any problem managing the same technique with this sable monster. I also knew (because I had thought about these kinds of confrontations a good bit when I used to run, having had sketchy encounters with canines before) that if this thing came to physical combat, I was going for its eyes first. He might end up crushing my throat in his jaws, but at least he’d be blind the rest of his life.

I collected myself and bowed up (inasmuch as any 5′ 10″, 150lb guy can bow up), took a small step forward, pointed at the canine-demon, and yelled at him, “BACK UP!” His demeanor didn’t change, but he backed down one step. We repeated this charade until he had backed all the way off the steps, and continued until I was able to exit the steps. We stepped a half-circle around each other, like a couple of gunslingers. Then it was my turn to back up, toward my car. I changed my command, “STAY!” and maintained eye contact the whole way.

Once I got into the car, the adrenaline pushed one final surge through my blood stream, and my legs turned to jelly. I sat there for several minutes, and something occurred to me – if I had killed the dog, there would have been no question who’d done it; the letter bearing my signature was stuck in the door. I started my car and backed it down the driveway, leaving the devil-dog and his two indifferent companions in my rear view.

A couple days later, I got a phone call from my truck driver, in which acted innocently as though he hadn’t been evading me for the last few months. But that wasn’t the last of the trouble I had with this client. You may have already read about how his deposition went sideways, despite my best efforts.

Photo by Jeanne Andersen.

How to Obtain Client Case Evaluation Feedback

Feb 20, 2017

Every industry needs feedback from its end-users. The legal industry is no different. You need to know whether your clients are satisfied with your services. The only way to obtain that information is by asking, whether by a survey or some other form of case evaluation feedback.

At the conclusion of a case, I like to communicate with the insurance adjuster I’ve been working with to make sure I’ve met her needs and expectations. More than that, I want to have exceeded her needs and expectations. But that sort of case evaluation feedback doesn’t usually come about passively. I have to solicit it. I have to ask specific questions that yield specific answers, allowing me to improve my practice. Specifically, I want to ask questions that will inform me as to whether my performance measures up to the metrics that I’m being measured against.

Sample of Case Evaluation Feedback Request

As we prepare to close out this file, I want to thank you for the assignment. My goal to handle cases in a manner that is consistent with your goals and objectives, and to provide you with the best possible service. To that end, I would appreciate your feedback in areas that I have identified as being of importance. Please rate my performance and handling of this matter on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being terrible and 10 being great):

Billing and cost compliance

Outcome of the case

Expertise in the subject matter of the case

Communication

Evaluation of the case

Reporting compliance

Cycle time (from Assignment to Closing)

I would of course welcome any verbal feedback you may wish to provide as well, whether it is on these topics or other aspects of case handling that are important to you. I look forward to your response and with continuing to work with you.

Responding to the Response

Once I receive the feedback from the adjuster, I will review it and begin to analyze my systems and processes. If the case evaluation feedback is positive, I need to assess what I can do to maintain the positive results. If the survey returns negative results, then I’ll know something went awry and I need to dig in to sort it out. Truthfully, I usually have a pretty good idea of what the results should be before I ever hear back from the adjuster.

Are you doing self-analysis? Do you have open lines of communication with your client that encourages feedback and improvement? If not, shouldn’t you?

For further reading on the topic of client satisfaction, and to start off each case on the right footing, here are 9 Things To Do after Being Assigned a Case.

Photo by Petras Gagilas.

What Metrics Are Insurance Clients Using to Measure Your Performance?

Dec 22, 2016

Insurance companies and risk management services are becoming increasingly more savvy about performance metrics than are the attorneys and firms who are being measured against them. Many attorneys are unaware of the categories and parameters they are being evaluated against. And unless a lawyer has a particularly candid with his insurance client, he is likely in the dark as to how he compares to other panel counsel.

Below are some common performance metrics categories being used to analyze attorney efficiency and effectiveness:

How long are your files open?

The cycle time can be an indicator of how efficiently attorneys are managing their caseloads. In many states, the time it takes to get a case from filing to trial can vary wildly from county-to-county. Cycle times are likewise variable when considering practice area and the complexity of individual cases. But over the course of time, the amount of time your cases are open should be an indicator of your case management efficiency.

Are your billables and expenses reasonable and within budget?

Some cases are going to cost more than others. Multiple party or fact witness depositions. Biomechanical and accident reconstruction experts. Site inspections. Thousands of pages of document review. It’s understandable and often completely necessary in order to properly evaluate a case. But are you communicating that to your client? Are the time and expenses you’re incurring on a file truly necessary, or can they be interpreted as bill padding and driving up the costs of defense?

Are your settlement and verdict evaluations accurate?

An injury that’s worth $40,000.00 in one Alabama county could easily be worth $400,000.00 in another. Your claims representative likely isn’t as familiar with the venues in your state as you are. They rely on you to provide appropriate case valuations so they can set their reserves. On a larger scale than your individual case, your insurance client is managing hundreds or thousands of such cases.

Your accurate case valuations enable the insurance company to effectively manage risk over the course of time, or to the contrary, your inaccurate evaluations inhibit their ability to manage risk and operate a profitable business. Additionally, your settlement and verdict evaluations directly affect your adjuster and their team manager, who are likely your direct points of contact and key cogs in maintaining a good relationship with your client.

How compliant are you with reporting deadlines?

Few things will put you in the bad graces of an adjuster than consistently failing to produce scheduled reports. What may seem like arbitrary deadlines typically are not. The attorney’s failure to report has a chain reaction. The adjuster is then unable to provide necessary information to his superiors at roundtable meetings. The team manager does not have the data he needs for conferencing with claims supervisors, ad continuum. On the other hand, timely and thorough reporting ingratiates you with your client and allows everyone to look good.

Are you communicating developments in the case?

Even when no formal reports are due, are communicating with your claims representative? If their claims notes are going months at a time without an entry from you, that’s not ideal. If your adjuster is regularly the one to call or email you asking what’s going on in a case, you can be sure that you aren’t communicating with them as regularly as they’d like.

Do you have expertise in the subject matter?

Have you established a relationship with a new client by pitching yourself as a trucking defense lawyer, when you’ve only ever handled personal auto cases? Your lack of knowledge in a subject area will quickly become evident to the insurance client who is immersed in these lines of coverage.

If your insurance client begins writing a new line of insurance and you represent to them that you can handle those claims, you had better be sure to be competent in the new practice area. It will quickly become evident if you’re not. And that will quickly erode the trust and rapport between you and your client.

Your insurance clients are auditing your performance based on the criteria that are important to them. Do you know what those criteria are? Are you auditing internally? If not, should you be? It may be important to know about yourself what others already know about you. Self-awareness of your strengths and weaknesses in critical case management metrics gives you the opportunity either to maintain your current course or make adjustments.