On Jun 1, 7:15 am, CL <flot...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> esch...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > On May 29, 7:33 pm, CL <flot...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Actually, when I was practicing law in the States, if we called
> > someone, we did so at a time that was semi-convenient to both of us,
> > even if that meant coming early or leaving late. Since we didn't like
> > coming in early or staying late, we tried to handle things by email or
> > fax.
>
> How come all of you guys go to school for something like 20 years and
> end up just practicing?  I have a lowly MBA, but I had to turn pro or go
> hungry.

"Practicing" is what they call doing business as an attorney, in the
same way that "practicing" medicine is what doctors do. I don't know
why that term is used for those two professions and not others.

> > What kind of lawyers were you dealing with that would be so clueless?
>
> Most of them, actually.  We provide a fairly wide range of services to
> the legal community which cover many types of cases and practice.  The
> ones who seem to be the most impervious to reality are those with major
> corporations as clients and who want to show they are in total control
> of the situation ... usually one of the senior associates coming up for
> promotion, and not the lead counsel.  But, there are a lot of lawyers in
> small or solo practice who are eager to defend their turf and can be
> just as bad or worse.

It sounds like you need to educate some attorneys, and  let me share a
technique used by lawyers with difficult clients that behave
similarly: charge more for inappropriate behavior and charge less for
appropriate behavior.

If you charge by the hour, offer a slightly reduced fee for handling
calls made during normal business hours (your time) and slightly more
hefty fee fora handling calls made outside those hours.

If you charge differently, then make the return call during normal
business hours (your time but not theirs) and say you are doing so
because you didn't want to wait to reply, since the information was
clearly time-urgent otherwise they wouldn't have called outside your
normal hours.

For the worse offenders, fire them as clients, being careful not to
damage their cases in the process.

Lawyers fire clients that simply do not respect the lawyer or his/her
staff, so turnabout is fair play.

DISCLAIMER: I am not your lawyer and you are not my client. This does
not constitute legal advice under either Japanese or American law.