Lawyers still living in the dark ages

At a recent talk given at the Law Society by Dr Helen Stewart expressed her frustration at dealing with firms of solicitors who had provided her, in her personal capacity,  with poor service.  She used her own experiences (and she is a solicitor) as examples in an attempt to encourage her audience of solicitors to improve their levels of client care.

It's not often I find myself on the other side of the fence, but in the last few days I have had to deal with an East Anglian firm, in my personal capacity, as the executor to an elderly relative's estate. In fact, there are three executors. Two of us are in the UK and one is in France. All of us are on email and all of us have said that we would be happy  for all correspondence to be dealt with by email.

Whilst it professes to want to  correspond by email this firm still insists on sending hard copy letters that take days to arrive. I have to confess to a sense of frustration because it seems to me that if a client wishes to correspond by email, and that client is prepared to accept there may be some slight risk, then it is up to the client not the solicitor.  There's something of the "that's the way we have always done it and we are not going to change now" attitude which on the one hand is slightly depressing, and yet on the other highlights the opportunities for those solicitors who want to work with their clients, rather than against them. I can't imagine a situation in which a client might specifically ask me to write an email and I would just send him a letter instead. Do you think that client would stay a client?

Comments

[Heather Stewart]

Thanks for quoting me! I hope you enjoyed the workshop.

[Mark Lloyd]

Hi Heather and thanks for the comment. Amazed you picked up on the quote but pleased that you found it. Both Penny and I have attended your workshops, and in a world of increasing competition for lawyers we'd happily recommend them to others.

Thanks again,

Mark