Want to spark an interesting debate among lawyers?

Just ask lawyers if they think initial consultations with potential clients should be free or not. There seems to be no consensus. We can only conclude that there is no right answer (other than the answer lawyers love to give: “It depends.”)

There are valid reasons to charge, and not to charge, for an initial consultation. In this post, we look at those reasons and how to determine the best choice for you and your legal practice.

Why You Might Want to Offer Free Consultations:

Marketing:
Many lawyers offer free consultations to market their services and to generate leads. Free consultations open the door to potential clients with the theory that the more leads you have, the better chance of finding paying clients. Free consultations are then seen as a cost of doing business.

Standard Practice:
A lawyer may offer free consultations if it is the norm for their practice area or geographic location. For example, personal injury lawyers, or those working on contingency fee arrangements, often offer free consultations. Or, if all the other lawyers in your town offer free consultations it might make sense to follow suit.

Type of Clients:
Who your clients are may also help you decide whether to charge a fee or not. For example, a free initial consultation might be appropriate for legal aid clients. Or perhaps you work with sophisticated clients that have high-volume or high-value legal work. These clients may be interviewing and assessing several lawyers or law firms to find their long-term legal advisor. It would not make sense to charge a fee in this situation.
 
You Are Not Providing Legal Advice:
If the meeting is simply a get to know each other meeting and you are providing generic information (explaining your fees, your experience, how you work in general, etc.) then it may not make sense to charge for your time, especially if you are not providing any advice on the merits of the potential client’s case or legal problem.

Why You Might Want to Charge for Initial Consultations:
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Too Many “Tire-Kickers”:
Depending on your practice area, sometimes clients like to meet with as many lawyers as possible to seek as much “free” legal information as they can about their case, with no intention of ever hiring a lawyer. Or they like to “kick-the-tires” with several lawyers to see who will tell them what they want to hear. Even worse, some litigants will purposefully consult with a lawyer to conflict that lawyer out of possibly working with an opposing party. If your practice area attracts these types of clients, charging a reasonable fee for a consult will likely act as a gate-keeping function. If the client is willing to pay a fee, it indicates that they are taking their legal matter seriously and are willing to invest in it. Also, if the client is paying for your time, they will respect it. 

You Are Providing Legal Advice:
If you are gathering information from the client and providing an assessment of what your views are on the matter at hand and your opinion on next steps to reach resolution, you are providing value to the client and should be paid. Our knowledge and our experiences are valuable and should not be given away for free.

Steady Flow of Work:
If you are a lawyer that has paying clients turning to you on a regular basis through word of mouth or trusted referral sources, the need to advertise free initial consultations is likely diminished as part of your marketing plan.

Time is Money:
Free consultations may cost you money. Spending 2-3 hours a week offering free consultations to people who do not retain you means you have lost out on 2-3 hours of billable work. If you have the billable work to keep you busy, focus on that.
 
Other Options: Does not Have to be Just “Fee or No Fee”
If you still cannot decide whether to charge a fee or not, there are other options. Some lawyers charge a fee up front for the initial consult and then if they are retained by the client, they offer a credit for that time for future work.

Or a lawyer could offer the first 30 minutes of a consult for free and anything after that will be charged. The lawyer will likely know within the first 30 minutes if this is a client they want to take on or not.  

There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for dealing with initial consultations. Whether you charge a fee or not is a decision lawyers must make within the context of their own practices.

What works best for your practice? Do you charge an initial consultation fee? Is your time filled with free consultations? Let us know if we can help. Hiring a freelance lawyer or law clerk to assist your practice will give you more time to attend initial consultations. Want to learn more? Start Here.

Business development and marketing should still be a top priority for lawyers and law firms in 2020. Now is not the time to go silent! But forget the tone-deaf pushy selling and self-interested promotion. That is never going to work, especially during a pandemic.

You might feel awkward about seeking out business now, but this global crisis does not mean that individuals’ legal problems have magically disappeared. People still need lawyers and the lawyers who are available and visible will be the ones getting the files. Some of our tips to show you are available are below:

1. Reach Out: Virtual Check-Ins

The number one way to get files in the door is to develop professional relationships with people. This has not changed. In the past relationships would be developed over in-person networking and cocktail events, lunches, drinks, etc. We have now evolved to “virtual” development of relationships through emails, phone calls, and video chats.
Reach out to those in your network, or people you have been following on social media, or lawyers you have seen at networking events in the past, and see if there is an interest for a virtual coffee or drink or an old-fashioned phone call.

Also, check in with past and current clients, not with the intention of selling your legal services, but with the intention of listening to them and learning what is going on in their lives and businesses. They may be perfectly fine, or they may be struggling with something. Once you have listened and learned, there could be a way you can help them. If you can’t assist, maybe you know someone else who can. Show you care about their business.

Relationships are key to business development. Do not ignore them now.

2. Set Aside Time Each Week to Work on Business Development

It doesn’t have to be long, but some time should be blocked off in your calendar to address business development and marketing each week. Make a list of the items you want to accomplish during that time. This could include the following: having one virtual coffee with a client or potential referral source; making a list of people you want to reach out to; drafting one blog post; send one tweet or comment on one LinkedIn post, etc. Make your list achievable, otherwise you may get discouraged.

3. Revisit your Website

The majority of people still Google to find a lawyer. When was the last time you updated your website?

Pull up your website and give it an honest and critical look. Ask yourself: Is the website up to date? Does it show that you are open for business? Does it look professional? Does it list all of your and your associates’ accomplishments? People want to hire “experts”, do you look like you know your stuff? Do you use lots of keywords for your practice areas to help with your search engine optimization? Does the website have a solid FAQ page? Is the language clear, free of legalese, and explains in plain language how you help people and what problems you solve?

Position yourself and your firm as a leader in your area. Lawyers can occupy a leadership role in the lives of their clients, especially during a crisis when they need help and advice. Show that you can provide that help and education through your website.

Do you have great online reviews? If not reach out to past clients and see if they are willing to provide some. Then, going forward, whenever you close out a file, send a quick survey or request for feedback to the client.

4. Up Your Social Media Game

In-person networking will be put on hold for the near future. This does not mean that your networking game must suffer. Meet new people over social media. Digital or virtual networking is the new game in town. Look at your or your firm’s social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. Do they need to be updated? When was the last time you engaged on social media with other lawyers, potential clients, your ideal clients etc. Search #LawTwitter or #LawyersofInstagram to find other lawyers to follow. Follow businesses who would be your ideal client. Keep up to date on what is going on in their industry.

Now is the time to get more involved on social media if you were not already.​

5. Embrace Legal Content Marketing

Hand in hand with networking over social media is creating content that you can share with your followers and connections.

Spend time to brainstorm what your clients’ needs are right now and what might they be down the road? What will be the key business and legal issues for the industry or individuals that you service?  Start drafting that content now.

Do not just focus on the negative (i.e the pandemic, economic downturn, etc.) Positive content can be a breath of fresh air. Have some uplifting news to share? Draft a blog post and share it on your social media platforms.

Also, market with all age groups in mind. What works for Boomers might not work for Millennials or Gen-Xers or (Xennials that micro-generation in-between that is often forgotten). Your content can be shared as short informative videos or podcasts or blog posts, or all three.

The main focus of your content should be helping others with information and not about selling your services (although letting others know how they can hire you is important too). Forget the legalese. Make sure you answer the question: how can you help people?

Do you help people with acrimonious divorces? Is one of your strengths settling neighbour boundary disputes? Do you help start-ups with their contract needs?
The focus should be on them and their problems. Provide the content that shows others how you can help them.

Conclusion

Now is not the time to bury our heads in the sand and wait until this crisis passes before we start our 2020 business development and marketing plan.

Plant the seeds now so the fruit of your labour will grow as we make our way through 2020.
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Do you have any other tips in mind? Let us know what works for you.

Check out Erin's interview with Vivene Salmon, President of the CBA and fellow law-preneur, Kim Gale for The Everyday Lawyer Podcast.

Erin, Kim and Vivene talk about going solo and the challenges and rewards of starting your own practice: