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Professional Liability Update

The information below is a continuation of our Professional Liability Update newsletter, Managing Fee Suits to Minimize Professional Liability Risk .

What to Say in Response to Common Client Comments in Collection Calls

Make your collection calls more effective by providing your attorneys and staff with the following "script" of common client comments and suggested responses: 

• Comment:
  "Your rates are too high."
  
  Response:
  "Are you satisfied with the work?"
  
  
• Comment:
  "The attorney gave me a quote of x amount but the bill is higher than that."
  
  Responses:
  "What services did you expect would be provided for x amount?"
  "Perhaps we can explore whether any additional services were needed or some other reason the bill exceeds the estimate."
  
  
• Comments:
  "I haven't paid because I sent a letter to the attorney."
  "I sent a note with a partial payment and haven't heard back."
  
  Responses: 
  "Can you share with me what issues you'd like addressed?"
  "Can you provide me with another copy of the note so that I can follow up?"
  
  
• Comments:
  "I didn't know this was outstanding."
  "I never got that bill."
  
  Response: 
  "Let me fax a copy of the invoice to you right now."
  
  
• Comments:
  "That's all been paid."
  "I have paid that - you just haven't applied it to my account yet."
  
  Responses:
  "When did you send your payment and to what address did you send it?"
  "Can you supply us with a copy of your canceled check so that we may track this?"
  
  

• Comments:
  "Our cash flow is very tight right now."
  "We have a deal that is supposed to close in the next few weeks, then we can make some payments."
  "We've been having cash flow problems and the attorney told us to pay when we can."
  
  Responses:
  "While the attorney is trying to be helpful, we still need to make progress on reducing the balance. What kind of partial payment do you think you could make at this time?"
  "When do you expect your cash flow situation to improve?"
  
  

• Comments:
  "I didn't like how your attorney did the work."
  "Your attorney spent too much time on this matter."
  "The attorney did work I didn't authorize."
  
  Responses:
  "Can you give me some specifics about your concerns and I'll pass them on to the attorney?"
  "What in particular are you concerned about or dissatisfied with?"

• Comments:
  "The attorney did not do the work I asked for."
  "Your attorney botched up the deal and cost me thousands of dollars; you're lucky I haven't sued!"
  
  Responses:
  "What specifically was done that you felt was not authorized?"
  "What specifically did you expect to be done that was not?"

Want to further reduce your professional liability risk? Check out our tips on improving client intake procedures and the billing process, as well as performing a cost / benefit analysis before filing a fee suit.