When Your Lawyer Doesn't Call Back

What do you do when your lawyer doesn't call you back? How long should you wait for your lawyer to call you back?

Is one message to call you enough? Should it be necessary to call and call and call as legal deadlines near?

"No news is good news." Does anyone still believe that?

If your lawyer is your lawyer, then he should be returning calls. Within a day. It should not be necessary to call repeatedly and to become more desperate as legal deadlines approach. Courts are often inflexible when it comes to doing things on time. How often do you read in the newspaper that a case was dismissed because a deadline was missed (or a statute of limitations had expired)?

If your lawyer has a habit of not calling you back, leave messages with a specific requested call-back-by time. Tell the secretary you want him to call you back by "Thursday, September 4, 2008, not later than 4:03PM." At then, at 4:04PM, call him back.

Do allow enough time, but you can shorten the callback times if it is necessary to call back repeatedly. After all, the clock started ticking when you left the first message.

It might help to leave the reason for your call, not just a "call me" message. Tell him you want him to leave an answer when he calls back, not just a "call me" message. Or, if he does leave a "call me" message, then to leave also at what time you should call to reach him. Stop the game of "Tag, you're it" in its tracks.

If he just can't squeeze in the time to talk for 15 minutes, at the very least he (or his legal assistant) should return the call and schedule a time to discuss the matter with you. Failure to return telephone calls and render service to a client is likely to create an even bigger problem for the lawyer than the stack of messages on his desk.

When something must be done within 30 days, does that mean 30 "calendar days" or 30 "business days"? Does it really matter, unless research critical to document preparation is continuing right down to the wire? When a decision is to be appealed and must be appealed within 30 days, why would a lawyer wait until the 11th hour to file it? Why not file it within the first week and get it over with?

Be clear with your lawyer what you expect him (her) to be doing for you. Since he is the lawyer and you're not, he should be explaining what he will be doing. Then you tell him whether you want him to do that. And ask what it will cost.

If your funds are limited for legal work (and whose aren't?), ask him to be specific about his fees and expenses. If his hourly fee is $250, ask him how many hours the matter will take. Ask what work can be done in his office by a paralegal, whose billing rate is lower (and ask what that billing rate is!).

Do the math. If you are fighting a $75.00 traffic ticket, is it worthwhile to spend $500 fighting it? Sometimes, the answer will be "Yes."

Sometimes you might benefit just as much from your lawyer's advice as from his representation in court. Ask! Ask if you can buy his advice, counsel and direction, but not his time beyond that.

If you buy 30 minutes of his time (say, on the phone) to learn how to handle a fairly straight-forward matter yourself, tell him you want his undivided attention on the phone (just as if you were sitting in front of him in his office) and that you will ask questions and you want straight answers. And that you will pay him for those 30 minutes.

Now, if your lawyer doesn't call you back, send him an email and tell you of your calls and that you expect a call back by a certain day, date and time. If that doesn't work, send him a Certified Mail letter with a Return Receipt Requested. They hate those things. Proof, you know? A paper trail.