Solo Contendere

By Michael Kemp

You came into my office looking like a million bucks. I remember thinking how great your suit looked. We shared brief — all too brief — moments over the conference table. I didn’t want to, but I found myself daydreaming about our future. Maybe it was something in your voice when you talked about your accident, or the endearing way you couldn’t find a place for your crutches. You shared so much with me in those few minutes: about your life, and your plans, and what you wanted. I felt like we had a connection. I gave you my number and told you to call me. You said you would.

But you never did. Oh, I’ve moved on. Other clients have come, and gone. But sometimes I find myself staring wistfully at the phone, wondering if you are thinking of me, or if you found someone new. If those few moments we shared meant something to you. I’ve thought of calling you, but somehow, never did. I still think about you, though. We could have been great together.

One of the things I keep coming back to is the value of time. For small-firm practitioners, it is our most precious resource, and there are a thousand ways to have it sucked away from you. At the same time, for most of us, we don’t have the marketing budget to keep the phone ringing off the hook at all hours. When a potential client walks in the door, we have to take that seriously.

So what do you do when you talk to a potential client with a potentially great case, and that client never calls back? Do you court wavering clients?

• The Pros

There are certainly pros to calling back the potential client who never shows up at a meeting, or who doesn’t call back. Like anyone else, they may have simply forgotten about the meeting, or that they were supposed to call you. It would be nice if one could form an entire practice around clients who were always serious about their case, honest with you, responsive to your requests and respectful of your time. To quote Susy from Calvin and Hobbes: “While we’re wishing, I’d like a pony.”

Clients have flaws just like everybody else, and if they have a good case — so the pro argument goes — there is nothing wrong with pursuing them. It shows that you are going to be serious about their case as well, and that you are willing to work for their business. In many ways, that leaves a good impression on clients, who may have the impression that lawyers are impossible to get a hold of, don’t care about their case, or them as individuals. They may have talked to three or four other law firms; if you want their business, you will have to distinguish yourself.

• The Cons

The cons are there as well, however. If a client does not take their obligations to you seriously when they are looking for your help, how seriously will they take them six months, a year, two years later, when the new-lawsuit smell has worn off and they realize that it takes work to be a client as well as a lawyer? Will they turn over the documents you need for discovery on time? Will they forget about other meetings, hearings, or depositions? If they are not serious about starting the representation, will they be serious about paying when they receive your invoices? If they are not going to take your time and effort seriously now, there is little reason to think things will get better as the months go on.

Additionally — so the con argument goes — cold- (or lukewarm-)calling potential clients will not win many worthwhile clients. The client has your contact information, and hopefully, you sold yourself well in that initial meeting. If they haven’t called, there is probably a reason. Yes, you might convince one or two to sign with you initially, but how long will they stay your client — and will they be a good one?

I know what our firm does. I don’t know if we’re right. What about it, readers? How does your firm treat the one might get away? If a potential client does not call you back, should you call them again and remind them of the benefits your firm brings? Or should you take it as a sign that they’re just not that into you?