Active Participation Guidelines for Member Attorneys

Introduction

In order for the LegalMatch system to provide the necessary service to our client users, and to afford maximum value to Member Attorneys, active and diligent participation in the program by Member Attorneys is required at all times throughout the agreement.

Here’s a success story of one of our member attorneys. Their success in using the LegalMatch platform comes by being proactive in their participation in the program.

Following-up is really important. I have learned that when people submit their requests and it comes to me, I am more successful in getting them in my office and getting hired if we follow-up with them after we send that initial email.

We’ve been inundated between LegalMatch and other things, and not always followed up with clients after we send the response through LegalMatch. We’ve lost some clients because we’ve not done that follow-up.

If we do not receive a call the day after we’ve sent the LegalMatch email, then we call the next day. If we don’t reach them, we follow up within a day or two by phone and send an email to their personal email addresses.

We have more success in getting those people to come to the office and meet with us and hire us, than if we let several days go by before we reach out to them. So, immediate follow-up after the referral is critical. Jennie H., Nacogdoches, TX, Family Law

As a LegalMatch member attorney, it is important to constantly be on top of communications with potential clients.

To get the maximum value out of your LegalMatch membership, you need to quickly address case postings from leads that come through your dashboard.

What are the Essential Active Participation Guidelines I Need to Do on LegalMatch?

Participation includes all of the following requirements. Any modifications, additions or enhancements to these requirements will be posted to the Member Attorney’s Program homepage throughout the Term:

1. Follow-up with your designated LegalMatch key account manager at least once a week

   Your key account manager is there to guide and help you. When you are unsure about something, you need only ask your key account manager to get help or solutions quickly.

2. Create a professional profile

   Build your profile page with a picture approved by LegalMatch and details about your career, license, and education for the entire duration of your term of service. Why? This is what prospective clients will read first if they want to know more about you. Give them a good impression and improve your chances of getting hired significantly.

3. Login to the Program at least 5 times every week

   This is to ensure that you at least know the posted cases matched to you and know the potential clients you can have. LegalMatch encourages attorney members to log in to the Program as many hours a day as they can.

4. Create a streamlined engagement process by making use of the engaged tab

   Move cases engagement to the Engaged tab within 5 days of the engagement. This is to give you a clear segregation of cases and will let you know which cases to prioritize.

5. Update Program fields on fees once a month

   Update fees received to date and estimated total case fees fields at least once a month for all engaged client users. This will help you get traction on your LegalMatch engagements and business done on the platform. This also helps your office accounting process by serving as your general billing or fees record on a monthly basis.

6. Move cases to the consultation completed status tab within 5 days of a consultation

   For clients who already had a consultation, move their cases to the consultation completed tab not later than five days after the consultation.

7. Subscribe to case notification emails for your entire term of service

   These are for cases you are qualified to work on as filtered by the set of legal practice areas and geographical locations you have chosen. This is important so you will be notified whenever a new case is posted in your area. That way, you can respond promptly to those cases.

8. Create and maintain response templates within the LegalMatch Program

   You need at least three of these templates to cover the bases from the initial contact to consultation and to turning leads into paying clients. You are encouraged to create templates that highlight your strengths as well as allow you to create personalized messages which clients will respond to well.

9. Make sure that your Attorney Contact Information is always up to date

   The first point of contact is usually through the contact info you provide. If you need to relocate to a new office or change your number, always be prompt in updating your contact information so clients can still reach you.

10. Maintain a 4-star client-user rating or higher on the Comment Board

    This board is the LegalMatch comment-feedback system for attorney members. A high rating attracts more clients and referrals for your services. In the complaints section, make sure that any complaint that comes up is addressed by you to the satisfaction of clients. This keeps your account clean and more attractive to potential clients.

11. Request each engaged client for a rating

    This may be high or low, depending on case resolution, but it can also give you an idea of how you fared with a client and how the case related. It helps you know more of what you can do to make your profile and communications or consultation process better. It also helps you improve your practice overall.

12. Respond to cases posted as soon as possible

    Respond to potential clients promptly, especially those posted during business hours in your time zone. Respond to all the posted cases you can address. Many of our successful member attorneys will tell you that the more cases you respond to, the higher your client engagement rate is. You are also highly encouraged to respond to cases posted from 8 AM-5 PM local time because these are usually the most business-like and serious ones. LegalMatch has also studied the average response time here and has found that responding within four hours of case postings case, on average, leads to more clients and a more successful practice.

13. Dispose of at least 90% of responded cases

    Move cases to either the engaged or archived tab within 30 days of the date of response.  This helps in keeping your case list organized. That way, you will have better insight into which cases to prioritize.

If you have questions about how to participate fully in the Member Attorney Program, you can always ask your key account manager.