The Importance of a Good Intake

Having a good set of intake questions is very important! This makes all the difference of a lead having a seamless experience between speaking with one of our representatives and then with you. 

Our LawyerLine representatives are trained to ask intake questions, schedule appointments, and process payments. With this in mind, how can you best utilize the intake process so you have everything you need for your consultation?

  1. Include all of the contact information needed for all parties involved (date of birth, mailing address, etc)
  2. Include all case-related information needed (such as upcoming court dates, any actions filed, etc)
  3. Include all practice area-related information needed. You may have different questions that you want asked to a criminal lead versus family law, etc. 
  4. Any factors that would cause you to not want a consult scheduled (ex: the injury was ver 5 years ago, the charge is from a specific county, etc)

The above can be utilized even if scheduling a consultation isn’t on your radar. Your client’s intake can be seen as the first date in your relationship – you’re getting to know each other! As with any relationship, it’s important to have good communication and a solid foundation. Having a good intake allows us to assist you in building long-last relationships with your clients. 

Beat the Heat this Summer with LawyerLine!

LawyerLine’s team of helpful and personable representatives are ready to assist your law practice with all inbound and outbound calls!

LawyerLine’s Gold Plan offers the following features at no additional cost than what you pay per-minute!

  • English/Spanish translation services
  • CRM integration
  • Custom Intake
  • Scheduling of Consultations and Processing Payments
  • Call screening
  • LawyerConvert

Call 800-840-0600 today to see how LawyerLine can take things off your plate so you can enjoy the dog days of summer in peace 🐾

What Can I Expect From my LawyerLine Onboarding?

You have just scheduled your LawyerLine onboarding call – now what?

First – congratulations! LawyerLine is excited to answer your calls (yes, really!) and take some things off of your plate.

At your scheduled time, your LawyerLine Account Manager will reach out and discuss with you the specifics of how our LawyerLine team can best assist your practice. Depending on what package you sign up for, our representatives can perform a custom intake for any potential client who calls in, schedule their consultation, process their consultation fee payment, provide Spanish/English translation services, and so much more!

During your conversation with your account manager, they’ll take the time to go over any questions you may have. LawyerLine is more than just an answering service – we dedicate our team to assisting lawyers with their practice in every and any way we can.

Call us at 800-380-3380 to schedule your onboarding call today!

Self Care for Lawyers

There’s no time like the present to be sure you’re taking care of yourself!

“Self care” typically trends on social media with pictures of bubble baths, face masks, and matching robe and slipper combos. All of which can be relaxing, but not always conducive for people who work 40+ hours a week and/or own their own business. So how can you also indulge in self-care as a lawyer?

  1. Boundaries. 

Also a bit of a buzzword in some circles, but setting realistic boundaries for yourself is important to avoiding burnout. An 8-hour workday can easily turn into a 10+hour workday, especially since most of us are working from home. And while the first few times of working longer days doesn’t feel like it has an effect on you, it may be affecting you down the road. Making a promise to yourself to let your work extend into your down time is important for your mental health. Also, this can help your productivity as well if you’re well-rested. 

LawyerLine makes it easy for our clients to not deal with their phone calls after hours or at all, by providing 24/7 coverage. Let our representatives handle your calls and you enjoy one less task to deal with!

  1. Limits

All of us are only human – even if we feel like a superhero sometimes! And while burning the midnight oil and waking up at 5am, or maintaining energy with coffee and energy drinks, is okay once and a while, keeping up with that level of performance every day is draining. Dare I say, that it would be impossible as well! It’s not feasible to say yes to every single case, order, project, task that may come your way – and it’s okay to say no! After all, it is your practice!

LawyerLine’s well-trained staff is ready to help your practice as much as you’ll let us! Potential client intake, scheduling appointments, processing payment, translation services, outbound calls – utilizing our multi talented team to handle things that you don’t have to not only gives you more time to dedicate to what matters, but it also gives you the freedom and flexibility to maintain the growth of your clientele. 

  1. Vacation

What’s the point of working hard every single week of the year?! Summertime is famous for vacations for a reason – the warm sun and longer days are a recipe for success for planning a vacation! Be sure to take time with your loved ones (including friends, pets, and yourself!) to take a break from your everyday routine. 

And, you guessed it – LawyerLine makes going on vacation easy! With 24/7 handling of your phones, our representatives can take care of letting your clients know that you’ll call them back after your well-deserved vacation, and can schedule new client consultations for when you return!

Utilizing LawyerLine is pivotal to taking care of yourself, and your law practice. 

Summer Lovin’ – Ways to Show Love to Your Clients

Happy Summer, everyone!

With the sunshine beaming its brightest, now is a great time to think about how you can best show some love to your clients! Without a loyal client base, it may be difficult to grow your practice to the best of your abilities. Listed below are some things you can do that LawyerLine knows is appreciated by our lawyers’ clientele!

  1. Communication. Everyone likes feeling important, and one of the best ways to show your clients that you care and they’re important to you is to return their calls in a timely manner. Having open communication with your clients, even advising that you’re in trial all week but will circle back after that’s done, is a personal touch that clients appreciate. 
  2. Honesty. Being honest with your clients about the road ahead with their case, even if the road may have some bumps (or frankly, some major potholes) is imperative to having your client’s trust. The more trusted you are, the more likely they are to rave about you handling their case to their friend’s and relatives, which has the potential to grow your practice tremendously!
  3. Quality Time. Just like with any relationship in your life, spending time with people is important to fostering a healthy connection. In the case of attorneys and clients, treating the time spent with the client as though it’s the only thing on the agenda for the day makes the client feel respected. Rather than feeling like they’re being rushed off the phone or out the door, and thus feeling anxious, being treated with respect and having your undivided attention puts the client at ease. Having a relaxed client, who feels confident about their situation with your help, is much more helpful for you to do what you need to do for their case rather than a client who feels out of touch and nervous. 

There are many other ways to show your clients some love, such as always having someone to speak with when they call you (like our amazing LawyerLine representatives!) or giving them some sort of consolation for any referrals. But we have seen that the most rewarding methods of treating clients are the same as the tenets of a healthy relationship!

If you feel like your practice could use some help managing your client load, whether it be scheduling consultations, processing payments, calling leads, translation services, or all of the above, call into LawyerLine today at 800-840-0600

Four Ways a Call Answering Service Can Help Relieve Lawyer Burnout

As the summer season approaches, many of us are looking forward to some sort of vacation to enjoy the warm weather! The below outlines for major ways a call answering service can help you enjoy your summer and give you some time to relax. 

  1. We’ll screen your calls!

Having an answering service be able to answer your calls on your behalf saves you the effort of speaking to a potential new client when you’re in the middle of grocery shopping, or from speaking to a previous client about a new case on a family vacation. Having an answering service to screen your calls gives you the freedom to only take calls on the cases that matter most!

  1. We can schedule your initial consultations!

All LawyerLine needs is access to your calendar, and we can take care of speaking with potential clients and scheduling their appointments for you. 

  1. We can speak with your existing clients and condense their message for you!

Delegate speaking to your existing clients about their questions to your answering service! We can gather the information they’re looking for and organize it so that you’re able to see exactly what your client is looking to speak with you about. 

  1. You have more time to focus on your cases – or anything else!

Most importantly, by having LawyerLine answering service handle your calls for you – you’ll have more time to work on your caseload. You’ll also have more time to dedicate to anything else, which will in turn help alleviate any feelings of burnout you may experience. 

Features of LawyerLine – Making the Most of your Summer Days

Summer is fast approaching, with the unofficial start being Memorial Day Weekend!

LawyerLine is more than just an answering service! While our representatives are trained to answer your calls and answer any questions to the best of our ability from your callers, we also offer many more features!

  1. Custom Intakes: As a standard on all calls, we get the names and phone numbers of every person we speak with. We can take a brief message if you prefer to keep things short and sweet, or we can go through your intake forms with clients. We are also more than happy to update the questions we ask as time goes on as well, whatever floats your boat!
  2. Scheduling Appointments: As long as we have access to your calendar, we can schedule initial consultations, scheduled call-backs with existing clients, and more!
  3. Payment Processing: We can also process payments online as well. We’re familiar with LawPay and other payment processing websites. Just let us know the consult fees and have us handle that for you!
  4. Translation Services: LawyerLine is proud to offer Spanish/English translation services! We have many bilingual representatives who are ready to help you broaden your clientele. We also have representatives fluent in French, Italian, and Tagalong!

This summer season, be sure to check in with your LawyerLine account manager to be sure that you are utilizing all the necessary services we have to offer so you can spend more time soaking up the sun – or give us a call at 800-380-3380 if you’re not yet using LawyerLine to talk about how we can help you make the most of your summer vacation.

What is CRM and Why Does my Practice Need it?

One thing about having a law practice that might not be discussed that often is the ever-changing needs of client and case management. 

As technology evolves, you might find that your current way of handling things may not be serving you as efficiently as it used to. 

This is where CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, comes into play!

There are many different CRM softwares available, and LawyerLine is familiar with quite a few of them. 

The first thing we’d recommend you to do is decide what specifically you need assistance with. There are many free or low-cost calendars available, such as Acuity or Calendly, if you feel that’s an area you’re needing a boost in. 

If you find that you’re in need of a CRM software, please feel free to do some research. If you also find that you’re in need of a team to answer your calls, schedule consultations, provide English to Spanish/French translations, process payments, reach out to LawyerLine today!

LawyerLine and Your CRM

LawyerLine is dedicated to assisting our clients with their law practice as much as we possibly can. In addition to the ability to handle calls 24/7, we also offer translation services (Spanish, French, Italian, and Tagalong) and payment processing. 

A feature that is most common among our clients is working with their Customer Relationship Management software! 

LawyerLine has experience with multiple CRM platforms, including but not limited to: Clio Manage, Clio Grow, FileVine, Calendly, Acuity, and more! Whether you choose to have our team schedule consultations, add notes from our calls to your client files, complete conflict of interest checks, or something else, LawyerLine is here to serve you and work with your CRM!

What Questions Should Be Asked on a Call with a Client?

When speaking with a potential new client for the first time, your first phone conversation is comparable to a first date. The specifics of what is discussed is all up to the personal preference of the attorney, but this is the opportunity to determine if this is a case to pursue.

On a general basis, asking for the client’s contact information is an important first step after exchanging pleasantries. Cell phone number, email address, alternate contact, etc. 

The questions that LawyerLine can ask your potential clients vary depending on your practice areas and also on the information you prefer to cover during the initial consultation. 

Common questions we ask for a few practice areas are listed below:

  1. General Questions: 
    1. How would you intend to pay for legal services? Would you be interested in a payment plan?
    2. How did you hear about our firm today?
  2. Family Law:
    1. Is your case contested or uncontested? 
    2. Where does the other party live?
    3. Where has the child involved lived for the past six months?
  3. Criminal Law: 
    1. In what county are the charges from?
    2. Do you have an upcoming court date?
    3. Do you have a previous criminal history?
  4. Estate Law:
    1. May I ask for the decedent’s date of death?
    2. Is there anyone contesting the will, that you know of?

We handle calls for approximately 200 lawyers in North America, for all different types of law. LawyerLine is able to ask any questions that will best assist you in handling your workload. 

If having LawyerLine ask your potential clients questions before an initial consultation, or any of the other services that we provide, please call us at 800-380-3380!

What Questions Should Be Asked on a Call with a Client?

When speaking with a potential new client for the first time, your first phone conversation is comparable to a first date. The specifics of what is discussed is all up to the personal preference of the attorney, but this is the opportunity to determine if this is a case to pursue.

On a general basis, asking for the client’s contact information is an important first step after exchanging pleasantries. Cell phone number, email address, alternate contact, etc. 

The questions that LawyerLine can ask your potential clients vary depending on your practice areas and also on the information you prefer to cover during the initial consultation. 

Common questions we ask for a few practice areas are listed below:

  1. General Questions: 
    1. How would you intend to pay for legal services? Would you be interested in a payment plan?
    2. How did you hear about our firm today?
  2. Family Law:
    1. Is your case contested or uncontested? 
    2. Where does the other party live?
    3. Where has the child involved lived for the past six months?
  3. Criminal Law: 
    1. In what county are the charges from?
    2. Do you have an upcoming court date?
    3. Do you have a previous criminal history?
  4. Estate Law:
    1. May I ask for the decedent’s date of death?
    2. Is there anyone contesting the will, that you know of?

We handle calls for approximately 200 lawyers in North America, for all different types of law. LawyerLine is able to ask any questions that will best assist you in handling your workload. 

If having LawyerLine ask your potential clients questions before an initial consultation, or any of the other services that we provide, please call us at 800-380-3380!