What’s
the
fundamental
requirement
for
practicing
law?
Aside
from
an
overinflated
sense
of
self-worth,
it’s
“having
a
client.”
Even
if
the
client
is
invented
out
of
wholecloth
solely
to
exploit
the
corrupt
forum
shopping
policies
of
the
Northern
District
of
Texas,
it’s
still
“a
client.”
Whatever
the
specialty,
lawyers
need
a
client.
It
also
helps
if
you’re
trying
to
get
paid.
But,
in
a
frightening
finding
from Clio’s
2024
Legal
Trends
Report,
most
law
firms
are
botching
this
most
essential
of
tasks.
A
staggering
number
of
firms
are
not
answering
the
call.
Literally.
Following
up
on
an
exercise
they
performed
for
the
2019
Legal
Trends
Report,
Clio
set
up
a
“secret
shopper”
survey,
contacting
1,000
law
firms
by
email
and
another
500
by
phone
to
gauge
how
they
handled
potential
new
clients.
The
results?
Grim.
A
full
67%
of
firms
didn’t
respond
to
emails,
which
was
somehow
worse
than
the
already
abysmal
results
of
the
2019
test.
Unless
the
hypothetical
client’s
email
read
“Hello
friend.
I
am
a
Nigerian
Prince
and
I
need
your
legal
advice
to
collect
$1
million
from
my
home
country,”
there’s
no
excuse
for
simply
ghosting
them.
Now
this
graphic
is
set
up
backward
from
the
last
one,
but
that’s
showing
48%
of
the
firms
either
didn’t
answer
the
phone
or
failed
to
call
back.
That’s
almost
20%
worse
than
2019.
Not
only
are
they
missing
out
on
clients,
how
will
they
ever
know
that
someone
out
there
is
trying
to
reach
them
about
their
extended
warranty?
It’s
almost
Halloween,
so
let’s
add
to
the
nightmares.
Of
the
folks
who
DID
respond,
the
answers
mostly
sucked.
A
quick
response
doesn’t
mean
much
if
the
isn’t
helpful—and
compared
to
our
study
in
2019,
today’s
firms
are
much
less
likely
to
provide
the
information
that
prospective
clients
are
asking
for.
Only
2%
of
law
firms
in
2024
referenced
similar
legal
situations
or
case
law
that
our
shoppers
were
looking
for
(compared
to
27%
of
law
firms
in
2019).
This
is,
of
course,
a
reputation
killer.
And
it’s
not
just
the
negative
impression,
but
missing
out
on
creating
a
future
evangelist
in
a
world
where
reviews
and
word-of-mouth
still
go
a
long
way.
No
response
might
as
well
be
a
one-star
review.
Firms
invest
thousands
of
dollars
in
marketing
campaigns
to
attract
new
clients,
only
to
lose
them
due
to
poor
or
non-existent
intake
procedures.
The
first
interaction
is
a
critical
moment,
and
if
that
goes
wrong,
potential
clients
take
their
business
elsewhere
—
or
worse,
try
to
handle
their
legal
problem
with
ChatGPT.
Speaking
of
AI,
because
it’s
2024,
that’s
one
of
the
proposed
solutions
to
this
problem.
Chatbots
can
give
a
potential
client
immediate
feedback
while
greasing
the
intake
wheels.
That
said,
only
7%
of
law
firms
use
chatbots
and,
not
surprisingly,
only
7%
of
lawyers
believed
that
clients
would
prefer
to
communicate
with
law
firms
via
chatbot.
And
clients
don’t
want
to
be
trapped
in
chatbot
hell
any
more
than
they
want
to
be
caught
in
a
Byzantine
phone
directory.
BUT
clients
are
much
more
willing
to
initiate
their
journey
through
a
chatbot
than
lawyers
might
suspect
with
61%
of
clients
surveyed
saying
they
would
engage
with
a
chatbot
as
a
point
of
contact
as
long
as
they
knew
a
human
will
eventually
be
available.
And
AI,
like
a
junior
associate,
never
sleeps.
Even
without
chatbots,
firms
can
develop
automated
intake
forms
—
which,
the
Clio
report
notes,
can
then
automatically
populate
Clio
Grow,
the
company’s
CRM
product
—
to
collect
key
information
and
leave
the
client
with
a
sense
that
they’re
at
least
making
some
progress
on
their
problem.
Armed
with
this
information,
the
firm
can
then
evaluate
which
cases
align
with
their
practice
areas
and…
you
know…
respond
to
the
client.
If
lawyers
can’t
accept
anything
less
than
the
human
touch,
Clio’s
Lawyer-in-Residence
Joshua
Lenon
pointed
to
virtual
receptionist
services
like
Smith.ai
or
Ruby
that
can
handle
incoming
calls.
Whichever
route
firms
choose
to
take,
they
should
probably
do
something.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
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Joe
also
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Managing
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