Video Summary
The video addresses clients who are unhappy with their current personal injury attorneys, particularly due to a lack of communication, a significant frustration in the legal services industry, according to Attorney Lee Rudin. While attorneys cannot call clients daily due to their workload, Attorney Lee Rudin emphasizes the importance of building a team to ensure clients receive updates and answers.
Attorney Lee Rudin advises unhappy clients to first give their current lawyer a “fair shake” by asking specific questions to get the answers they deserve. If the client remains unsatisfied or has already exhausted their patience, the firm explains the process of switching counsel. This involves firing the current lawyer in writing and providing proof of termination. Attorney Lee Rudin stresses the ethical importance of protecting the previous attorney’s interests regarding time and money spent on the case.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What is the most significant frustration mentioned regarding the legal business?
The most significant frustration reported is that clients say their lawyer never calls them back or keeps them informed about what is happening. - Is legal work considered a service business?
Yes, Attorney Lee Rudin clarifies that while it is a professional service, it is still a service business. - Why is it impossible for a lawyer to call every client every single day?
If a lawyer had to call every client personally, they would never get any actual legal work done. - How does the firm ensure clients get updates if the lawyer is busy?
The lawyer builds a team to handle information flow, ask questions, and make necessary phone calls to clients, doctors, or insurance companies. - What does Attorney Lee Rudin believe a client deserves regarding service?
Clients deserve to have their questions answered, receive updates on their case, and feel like their case is essential. - Does Attorney Lee Rudin immediately tell unhappy clients to fire their current lawyers?
No, Attorney Lee Rudin states they are “not in the business of telling people to fire their lawyer” and prefers not to do that to peers. - What advice is given to clients before they decide to switch lawyers?
Clients are advised to use the information provided by Attorney Lee Rudin to question their current lawyer and seek the answers they should have been receiving. - When does Attorney Lee Rudin suggest a client “come back” to them?
Attorney Lee Rudin suggests returning if the client fails to obtain the necessary answers from their current lawyer after giving them a fair opportunity to address the issues. - What is the process for switching lawyers?
The client must terminate their lawyer in writing and provide proof of the termination. - What happens to the previous lawyer’s expenses and time spent on the case?
The new firm ensures it protects the previous lawyer’s interests, noting that they are entitled to a portion of the recovery for the money and time they invested.
Transcription of the Video
I’m not happy with my personal injury lawyer, and they rarely return my calls. Can I switch to a different Louisiana accident attorney?
We get calls all the time, and two different kinds of calls. We get the call where someone says, “I’m with my lawyer, they never call me back, they don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m not happy, will you take my case?” When I hear that from those clients, that’s the most significant frustration in our business. For me, with respect to my peers, I don’t want to hear, in a client-facing business where we are in the service business, that we’re a professional service, but it’s still a service business. I don’t want to hear that you’ve never heard from anybody.
Now, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to hear from the lawyer every single day. That would be impossible. And if I had to call every single client by myself, I would never get any actual legal work done. That’s why I have a team that can gather information, ask me questions, and pass it back to me; they can make specific phone calls to clients, doctors, insurance companies, or whoever. You build a team, and you do what you are best at and what is most important. Sometimes it’s talking to clients, sometimes it’s not. You do that, you build a team that can do it effectively, and you provide the service that the client deserves, which is to have their questions answered, to get updates on their case, to just feel like their case is essential because it is. All right?
All right, so I get clients like that all the time, and I tell them I’m not in the business of telling people to fire their lawyer, and I’m really not. I wouldn’t want somebody to do that to me, and I don’t do that to anybody else. I give those folks all the information they need to question their current lawyer about certain things and get the answers they should have been getting before, and they should be getting now. And if they don’t get them, I say, “Come back to me.” At that point, you’ve given your lawyer a fair shake.
Sometimes they’ll say to me, “Uh-uh, I already did that. I already gave them all the rope they needed to hang themselves, and they did it. I want to get rid of them. I want to hire you.” If that happens, we explain the process: they need to terminate their lawyer in writing and provide proof of termination. And then we want to make sure that we protect whatever interest the other lawyer has. So the other lawyer could have spent money and time on the case, and they’re entitled to some portion of the recovery, if there is any. And again, I wouldn’t want someone to screw me over because they handled the case and then got fired, and so I wouldn’t do that to anybody else. We try to be respectful to our peers even if they haven’t done right by the client. We want to make sure everybody gets taken care of in the way that they should.
