08/30/2018
WOULD YOU LIKE A CALL BACK FROM MRS. WALLACE?
We want to remind all our clients of our office policy to be careful stewards of the retainer fees they have paid us. For that reason, when our clients call to leave a message, they may be asked whether they need a telephone call directly from the attorney or whether they are comfortable leaving a message with an assistant and receiving a message back from the attorney. This is because, in most cases, we do not charge attorney’s fees against the retainer if the staff person is carrying simple messages back and forth between the client and the attorney, but the attorney does charge her hourly fee if she is placing a return phone call to the client.
The exception to our policy of not charging clients for messages going back and forth is where the attorney must take some action in order to provide the client with information she or he may need. For example, a client may call and ask a staff person for information and indicate that the staff person can call them back with the answer. If the attorney must make other calls , review documents, or do research in order to provide the client with the information she or he needs, the attorney will charge for the work in obtaining the answer, but she will not charge for the time she spends communicating with her own staff person, because we do not charge our clients for the time the attorney and staff people spend communicating with each other about our clients’ cases.
Where a client specifically asks for a return call from the attorney, Mrs. Wallace’s policy is to return the call within 24 hours unless the client has an emergency. If Mrs. Wallace is unable to return the call within 24 hours, the client will be given the reason she is unable to return the call within the timeframe.
If you have some questions about how we bill or our policy on return phone calls, Taylor will be glad to help you.