OTLA Trial Lawyer Winter 2021

10 Trial Lawyer • Winter 2021 Virtual Practice Continued from p 9 important thing you can do is under- stand why you are doing it. I believe the best reason why would be to make your services more accessible to more vulner- able people. Logistics The next step is to break down, in terms of your client flow, how your in- person services are creating a barrier to justice for our most traumatized and injured community members. What I’m breaking down above is essentially basic marketing strategies that online businesses everywhere are practic- ing. One of the things lawyers easily get wrong is believing if we are the best in our practices, our practices will be suc- cessful. This leaves out the client experi- ence and unfortunately is just not true. You can know your area the best, but if your clients feel unsafe and confused, whether or not you think their feeling is reasonable, it will limit your practice. When a client can call in to your online meeting from their bed under covers, it allows them to access services. You may believe if they can’t ride the elevators up to a law firm, they won’t be able to testify effectively, but our experi- ence is that is simply not the case. As a lawyer, you have the potential to make legal claims accessible to your clients or inaccessible. If they can call in to a video conference from under covers and then electronically sign your fee agreement, you have made law one step more acces- sible. You may be thinking, “Not for every- one! I’m not tech savvy and neither are my clients!” This is fair and we hear this a lot. We hear it from our client who is 72 and has mastered editing in Adobe. We hear it from our client who has severe ADHD and PTSD and now has his own psychology practice serving clients through telehealth. We hear it from our clients who have flip phones, 10th grade educations and start their own busi- nesses after mastering online learning. The point is some of your potential clients will say they are not tech savvy. Other potential clients are not accessing in-person services because they believe in-person is a barrier. How can you make your practice the safest for your clients? My experience is the online services are so flexible, it is much easier to make things acces- sible. Sample practices Below is a sample client flow we use in our business. Clients find out about us through one of our outreach practices. They call our office line and are di- rected to schedule themselves online. They go to our site at Acuityschedul- ing.com, fill out an application with conflict information and schedule for a time that works. I evaluate them for one of two tracks — are they contingency fee clients or preventive services clients? My assistant reaches out and reschedules those who are potential contingency fee clients. She AWARENESS How do people learn about your services? Can they do that online? Can a deaf or blind person find out about your services online? Is it easy for people to find out how you help them? NURTURE What do you offer that would make someone who has a severe injury or severe trauma feel safe with you before they sign up with you? Why would someone trust you? What do you offer online ahead of time so those who need you understand who you are and what you offer? CONVERSION What would make an injured person feel safe contacting you and actually showing up for a consult? Why would someone sign up with you? What is your process for signing up? What are the barriers of access to signing up? WELCOME How do you welcome clients? What makes them feel immediately validated in signing up with you? What helps them know it was a good idea? MAINTENANCE What kind of support and responses do people get while they are waiting for their case to progress? What is the easiest way for them to contact you? How do you make sure they feel supported along the way? What additional supports do they need? How do you give them access to those supports? CLOSURE How do your clients establish closure? What systems do you have in place to help your clients resolve their experience in a positive way and establish new experiences in their lives?