RETURN THOSE CALLS!

                OK, you had your car towed into your mechanic’s early in the morning with the sinking feeling that something was terribly wrong with it this time.  Visions of four-digit repair bills and changed vacation plans swim in your head as you entrust your car to ‘good old Mack,’ who tells you he’ll check it out and get back to you before noon.

                As the hands on your watch move slowly, but inexorably, toward 12:30 and sweat begins to form on your brow, with trepidation and a pounding heart you call Mack only to be told that “Mr. McDermott is with another customer.”  Mack’s receptionist assures you she will give him the message and he will call you right back.

                You distractedly chew on a by-now cold pastrami sandwich, all the while watching the minutes march first to 1:00 and then to 2:00 p.m.  Still no call.  Again you punch in Mack’s number.  This time the receptionist tells you ‘Mr. McDermott has stepped out for a few minutes.’  In response to your query, she assures you that Mack got your previous message and will call you back shortly.

                Well, shortly is a relative term, and when you haven’t heard from Mack by 3:30, you put aside the interrogatory responses you’ve been working on half-heartedly, and call Mack again.  This time you can barely contain the anger boiling up inside of you when Mack’s receptionist tells you that “Mr. McDermott has gone into conference but I’ll be sure to give him the message when he comes out.”

                You can’t believe this!  Doesn’t Mack know how important this is to you?  Didn’t he promise to call before noon?  Doesn’t he care about you?  What kind of operation is he running after all?  You wonder if he treats all his customers like he’s treating you.  Did he get your messages?  You’re ready not only to take your business elsewhere, but also to file a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair!  That will show him!

                Finally, at about 4:30 p.m., with your floor piled high with clumps of hair pulled from your head, Mack finally calls.  “It looks real bad, Chief,” he starts.  “Those valves are bent worse than the handiwork of a cockeyed pretzelmaker.”  Mack’s use of florid language is, as usual, somewhat hard to follow, though you deduce it does not look good.  “That’s gonna run you about 1600 bucks and will take a couple of days.”  Ouch!  Worse than you thought!  You reluctantly give him the go-ahead to begin the repair, still smarting from his failure to call you as planned or to return your calls.  Even though the repair is ultimately done to your satisfaction, you continue to experience difficulty getting a hold of Mack over the next few days, adding to your feelings of anxiety, frustration, helplessness and anger.  You vow never to treat others as you have been treated!

                Sound far-fetched?  Maybe so, but if you put an esquire behind Mack’s name, it is not an uncommon scenario to those of us who practice in the area of attorney disciplinary law.  One of the most common complaints made by clients to the State Bar is failure of their attorney to return calls or otherwise communicate with them.  Some attorneys it seems are easily reached when the prospect of a new client and retainer fee looms on the horizon, but once that initial meeting has taken place and that retainer has been paid, they become harder to talk with than Jimmy Hoffa.

                In addition to it being bad public relations to not communicate with clients, it is also a violation of Business and Professions Code Section 6068(m) and rule 3-500 of the Rules of Professional Conduct.  As attorneys, we have a duty to our clients to respond to reasonable status inquiries, as well as the affirmative duty to keep clients reasonably informed about significant developments in their cases.

                Often, I think that in addition to being overextended at times, making the return of client phone calls somewhat problematic, attorneys are reluctant to be the bearers of bad news to their clients.  However, clients are ultimately going to find out that bad news, and if they do so without building up the frustration, anger and anxiety of having to pry the same out of their lawyer, will probably be more understanding and accepting (As Mack’s customer, you would have preferred to have heard the bad news about the valve job at noon, rather than having to make three increasingly more frustrating phone calls to obtain the same information).

                Remember, in addition to the professional obligation we have to communicate with clients, our clients are consumers and human beings often with emotionally-charged situations which directly impact their lives.  Setting up a system in your office that insures that you respond promptly to client inquiries and regularly disseminate important information not only will fulfill your ethical obligations to your clients and keep the State Bar at bay:  it will also build client confidence in you as a caring human being and professional, and will likely redound to your benefit in client referrals and your professional reputation in the community.