01/26/10

WOW: Respect

I promise to treat each client as an individual who is deserving of my respect, attention and highest level of professionalism.

Category: General

Posted by: primelegal

Developing a strong attorney-client relationship is a two-way street. Your client needs to respect your guidance and advice. In addition, the client needs to feel that their wishes and needs are respected. Cultivating an air of respect has a lot to do with how we communicate.

The following tips will help you communicate respect to your clients:

• Addressing the Client – Listen to how clients refer to themselves. If a client introduces herself as Dr. Smith, then you should refer to them the same way, unless they ask you to use their first name.

• Don't Use Accusatory Language – Instead of telling a client, “you don't understand,” or “that is not true,” you can say , “my record indicates something different” or “there are some issues you may not be aware of.”

• Stay Positive – Even if a client is upset, focusing on the positive will help disarm negativity. Tell the client what you can do for them.

• Do Not Condescend – It is not your job to reprimand clients for mistakes. You can inform them of the legal consequence of their actions and the best way to move forward.

If you have tips on how to cultivate respect with clients please email them to newsletter@primelegal.biz.

Pre-Paid Legal Referral Procedures

Teamwork is essential to complete a large task. Anytime you meet an individual who is extremely successful, they usually say that there was a team behind them that supported the effort.

Providing legal services for the members of Pre-Paid Legal (PPL) is a large task, and it takes a large team of phenomenal individuals to accomplish the task. The associates market the product and you, the attorneys, provide the service. The corporate offices are here to support the associates, the attorneys and the members.

With 1.5 million family memberships across North America, it takes an army of attorneys to provide the services. You are a part of nearly 6,000 referral attorneys who provide the legal services to these members, and we cannot tell you how much we appreciate you.

This is a short discussion of the Pre-Paid Legal Referral Procedures. Hopefully, this will alleviate any confusion as to how to handle a referral that is received from Pre-Paid.

First of all, we would like to discuss where your referrals will come from:

• Your state provider law firm (PLF)

  1. If the PLF is too far from the legal issue, they refer the matter to a referral attorney.
  2. If the PLF has a heavy workload and is unable to take the case, they will refer the matter to a referral attorney.

• PLFs outside of your state/province due to the location of the issue.

  1. If the PLF does not handle the area of law of a particular case, they will refer that matter to a referral attorney who does practice that area of law

• Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

  1. There are members who have old PPL plans that were extended to the members well before the provider law firms existed. These members are referred to attorneys by the PPL corporate office.
  2. The PPL corporate office refers all members who live in states/provinces without a PLF. Currently, there is a PLF in every state (with the exception of Alaska), as well as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
  3. When a member calls the provider law firm with an issue that poses a conflict of interest (COI) for the firm, the member is then sent to the corporate office for a referral to a referral attorney.

When receiving referrals from a PLF or the PPL corporate offices, please keep in mind that referrals cannot be placed by email or fax. The consultants are required to assign the referrals by telephone.

As you are providing service to PPL members, there are a few things to remember:

1. If you need to provide additional title one services, you must receive approval prior to providing those services. Do not write additional letters or review additional documents unless approval has been granted.
2. You must check and clear all conflicts of interest prior to accepting the referral.
3. You will receive a billing sheet for each referral. Once the services are rendered, please promptly complete the form and return to the provider or PPL (whoever assigned the referral to you).
4. If for any reason you cannot assist the member, please notify the provider firm or PPL as soon as possible.
5. DO NOT “forward” referrals… not even to another attorney within your firm! If you are unable to assist and need another attorney to take the case, please advise the provider or PPL.
6. Respond promptly by telephone to accept a referral.
7. Upon acceptance of a referral, call the member – preferably on the same day.
8. If you cannot personally call the member, please ask a staff person to call and set an appointment.
9. If possible, provide the initial consultation by telephone.
10. Please do not accept referrals if your schedule does not allow you to assist the member quickly (keep vacations and case load in mind).
11. Be PROACTIVE! Notify the provider or PPL if the member needs further explanation of benefits or if you believe the member is unhappy with your service for any reason.
12. Communicate to your staff the importance of receiving referrals from the provider or PPL. Make sure that they too go over these procedures.

We hope that this information is useful to you as we strive to make the service to the members of PPL as seamless as possible. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact your state provider.

We appreciate all that you do!

 

 

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