The best phone system for law firms
Every client conversation timed, summarised and filed against the matter: a work line on your mobile, kept well away from your personal number.
Hundreds of companies use 
to make every call pay off
The situation
What holds you back today
A personal mobile used to speak to clients
Phone conversations that never reach the matter file
Business development done informally, whenever there is time
The answer
What Skipcall changes
Specific to your industry
What the Code of Conduct allows, and what it rules out
A solicitor in England and Wales may advertise, and may approach a business directly. What the SRA Code of Conduct rules out is the unsolicited approach to members of the public to advertise legal services, the exception being current and former clients. The cold call to a consumer is therefore out, while the telephone keeps its place everywhere else.
The cold call to a member of the public is out
The Code is explicit: you do not make unsolicited approaches to members of the public in order to advertise legal services, other than to current or former clients. The telephone comes back into its own as soon as the person has enquired, asked to be called back, or is already a client of the firm.
Approaching a business is a different question
The restriction is written around members of the public. Calling a company, an in house legal team or a professional contact is not caught by it, but it is caught by the marketing rules: the number is screened against the Corporate Telephone Preference Service, UK GDPR still requires a lawful basis, and a request not to be called again is acted on immediately.
The referral network is not a client
Calling an accountant, a surveyor, a trade body or another firm to introduce yourself is not an approach to a member of the public. That is where the telephone genuinely builds a practice. Remember that a referral arrangement has to be disclosed to the client in writing, and that referral fees remain prohibited in personal injury matters.
Confidentiality covers the recordings too
The duty of confidentiality, and legal professional privilege where it applies, extend to a recorded call, its transcript and its summary. Decide before you switch the feature on where those files are hosted, who in the firm can open them and how long they are kept. Calls to the other side's solicitor are not automatically protected, which is a reason to choose what gets recorded rather than recording everything.
The conflict check comes before the conversation
One call is sometimes enough to take in information that would then stop you acting for the other side. The check is on the caller's name and on the opponent's, and it happens at first contact, before you get into the facts.
None of this stops a firm from organising its telephones. It moves the use towards existing clients, live matters and the professional network, and leaves the approach to the public alone.
The script
Calling back an enquiry, and calling the network
This script is not for cold calling. It covers the two calls a firm can make without going near the SRA's restriction on unsolicited approaches to members of the public: calling back someone who has written in or asked to be called, and introducing yourself to a professional referrer. The cold call to a consumer does not appear here, because it is not permitted.
The opener, calling back someone who wrote in
“[Full name], from [firm]. You wrote to us on [day] about [subject]. Before we get into it, can I take your full name and the name of the person or company on the other side?”
The opponent's name is asked for before anything else: a single call is enough to take in information that would then stop you acting for the other party.
If the firm records its calls
“I should tell you that this call is recorded and that the note will go on the file. Say so if you would rather I turned it off.”
The information has to come before the recording. What comes out of it, transcript and summary included, sits inside the duty of confidentiality exactly like the file.
If they ask what it is going to cost
“I cannot give you a figure until I have seen the papers. What I can tell you now is how my charges work: [hourly rate, fixed fee, agreement], and you will have that in writing before I do anything at all.”
Clients are entitled to the best possible information about the likely overall cost, at the outset and as the matter goes on. The question comes up on every first call, so the wording is worth preparing once.
If they compare you with another firm
“I will not comment on another firm's work. What I can do is tell you what I would do on your matter and how long it would take. You decide after that.”
Publicity must not be misleading, and a comparison offered on the phone is one the client has no way of checking. Declining it is both safer and more convincing.
The introduction call to a referrer
“[First name], I am a solicitor doing [area of law] in [town]. Your clients almost certainly ask you [subject] questions you would rather not answer on their behalf. Half an hour, so that you know what I take on and what I do not.”
An accountant, a surveyor or a trade body is not a member of the public, so this call is not the approach the Code restricts. If work starts to flow, the arrangement is disclosed to the client in writing, and referral fees stay prohibited in personal injury matters.
Calling an existing client on a live matter
“I am calling about [matter]. Two things to decide: [X] and [Y]. Give me five minutes, and I will confirm in writing whatever we agree.”
Saying how many points there are and how long it will take keeps the call inside the time you promised, and gives the client the written trail they expect.
At Skipcall, every call is recorded, transcribed and summarised, so the script gets corrected against what your reps actually say rather than what we imagine they say.
Avoid this
Three mistakes this industry makes on the phone
The mistake
Calling a consumer from a bought list to offer your services.
Do this instead
The Code rules out unsolicited approaches to members of the public to advertise legal services, other than to current or former clients. Write, publish, get introduced, and call once the person has come to you. For businesses the rule is different, but the number still gets screened against the Corporate Telephone Preference Service first.
The mistake
Getting into the facts before you have the other side's name.
Do this instead
Ask for the caller's name and the opponent's in the first few sentences. The conflict check happens at first contact; afterwards it is too late, the information is already with you.
The mistake
Letting recording and automatic summaries run across every call, including those to the other side.
Do this instead
Correspondence with another firm is not automatically protected, and a recording, its transcript and its summary all sit inside the duty of confidentiality. Settle before go live which calls are recorded, where the files are hosted, who in the firm can open them and how long they are kept.
Frequently asked questions, Law Firms
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