The leads are pre-screened so that everybody getting involved with LegalMatch has clients handed to them in their inbox.
The representative from LegalMatch that I spoke with just explained to me what it did and it was a career move for me that made perfect sense. It sounded like it was exactly what I was looking for. There are certain wonderful things about working at a large firm and there is also flexibility available through LegalMatch for small firms. It was something that was very attractive to me in coming over and joining LegalMatch.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I can say from the start I’ve been more and more encouraged and impressed by what LegalMatch does. The way that the system is thought through, the ease of use of the interface that it provides online, the matching with clients that would be within my area of expertise and geographical region -- all these provide business development for me. That’s just a wonderful thing.
If I had to pick one thing I liked most about LegalMatch, it would be the teamwork that’s provided that I did not anticipate. A lot of companies would take your sign-up fee, provide the product and then go their separate way. LegalMatch assigns a supervisor/coach that helps you every step of the way and I really feel like LegalMatch and I are working as a team rather than me out there on my own without any support.
From LegalMatch, I feel the teamwork, particularly because I came from a big firm and now that I’m working solo, it’s nice to have a team. I would recommend a membership to others in the same position as I am. For someone in my position, who appreciates the flexibility, appreciates learning new subject matters, dealing with a broad demographic of people and being able to represent large and small clients in all different forms, I would absolutely recommend LegalMatch.
My LegalMatch membership has positively impacted my business by providing a steady income. With a membership, you can either hit it hard and make money or you can just use it occasionally and not get all the benefits that are provided. I was sort of slow getting the hang of how to best maximize the use of what LegalMatch provides, but once I realized all the services LegalMatch provides and the way the system works, I could get cases all the time and stay as busy as I want to be.
That’s a real blessing and it’s not overwhelming if I come to a situation where I have a lot of cases on my plate. Timeliness of response to the clients I have or being communicative with clients is of the utmost importance. I wouldn’t take on too much, whereas in a big firm environment, for example, a lot of times you can get overwhelmed and you’re afraid you have to work nights and weekends to keep things from slipping through the cracks. With LegalMatch you can pace yourself a little better or at least that’s been my experience.
For those thinking about a membership, LegalMatch provides a teamwork environment and it is very well organized. LegalMatch provides well-structured data on all clients; the user interface is systematics, so it’s very easy to use; and the information that’s provided to me is carefully selected. The leads are pre-screened so that everybody getting involved with LegalMatch has clients handed to them in their inbox. Leads may turn out to be very good clients. That’s something I think could be overlooked for those that have to go out and truly pound the pavement and drum up their own business.
One strength LegalMatch has is in business development. Different attorneys are cut out in different ways. Some of them really enjoy business development, they enjoy going to the dinners, they enjoy being on committees and being in bar organizations -- giving speeches and presentations and writing papers. I just like to do my job. I like legal work. I’m a really good lawyer, I’m not a good business developer and one of the things that LegalMatch does is it does a whole lot of the business development for me.
Once the clients get in the door, it’s my job to keep them happy and to provide excellent service to them so that they keep coming back, but that isn’t a problem for me. The problem is getting out there and pounding the pavement, meeting people, shaking hands, attending parties and dinners. Seeing and being seen, that’s really not who I am. I like to do my job and I do it well. If LegalMatch does the business development for me, then that’s just a happy marriage.
Except for some areas, I do pretty much everything and I would say LegalMatch is best suited to people who don’t have too narrow a niche practice. It’s better suited to attorneys such as myself who either have experience in a lot of areas or are willing to learn new areas of law that they’re capable of, but don’t perhaps have any expertise in.
If you’re a new member, take the time to familiarize yourself with the way the system works and take advantage of the resources provided to you. I made the mistake at the very beginning of saying, “Great, I’m with LegalMatch!” and I jumped on the system and I started doing it, really not knowing what I was doing. I let a lot slip through the cracks, as far as missed opportunities and some things that I had questions about that I was afraid to ask. I should have just called up my representative, who’s been delightful to work with.
I should have taken advantage of the resources provided to me and taken the time to familiarize myself with LegalMatch’s very easy system. By way of example, LegalMatch links into a calendar program, so if I have a consultation that I’ve agreed to set up, it automatically shows up on my calendar and saves me the time of having to go keep it on a separate calendar. It also has an area to keep attorney notes, as the clients start to match, they show up in my inbox.
I respond to, say, 50% of the cases. Some of them may not respond for weeks and they will call me up out of the blue and say, “Oh, this guy never paid me, what should I do?” It’s very easy to forget who on earth is talking to me on the phone and why they’re calling me. I just go about it the right way. Just go to LegalMatch, go to that client’s case and pull up my notes and it shows it right there. Just a brief blurb about their case, who they are and why they’re calling me, so that helps me not sound like I’ve never heard of them before.
To encapsulate, these are the two things I would say to new members: take advantage of the resources provided and familiarize yourself with the system. Things will go very smoothly for you.
During this pandemic time, my work has actually picked up since LegalMatch is all done online as an interface with the client, except on the rare occasion when you actually have to go into a courtroom. A lot of interaction is done by video these days. COVID is not going to compromise my ability to serve a client’s interests.
The LegalMatch templates are a very good way to get a response out quickly, so you don’t have to hand write and sort of recreate a response every time, obviously. I want to tailor my responses to meet the situation at hand and the client’s specific needs to some extent. Who I am, how many years I’ve practiced, how they can find out more information about me, the fact that I’m available for a free consultation, these sort of things can all be done by a template.
I can modify those as needed to fit the client’s particular interest. Say, for example (and I just had this happen) a client will show up and it happens that through LegalMatch I’m handling that very same issue for another client. Without naming clients or disclosing any confidential information I can say, “I’m currently handling your exact situation for another client.” That can be added to a template to make it more personalized to that client.
The templates are a very good resource. As for the other features of the interface, there is a calendaring program where I can suggest any number of times that I’m available to have a free consultation with the clients. They can choose one of those times that I pick or choose one of their own. That way, we’re able to establish a time that’s mutually convenient to talk.