Nothing is more frustrating than when your personal injury lawyer in New Bedford doesn’t return your phone calls. We’ll give you insight as to why lawyers don’t return phone calls.
Why Your Personal Injury Lawyer in New Bedford Won’t Return Your Calls
Most clients who call their lawyers rarely call to offer crucial information. They usually call to ask about the status of their case. These calls might be important to the client but they are not a lawyer’s main priority.
Lawyers have an ethical duty to update their clients about their cases but that doesn’t mean that they have to call you or give you the information personally.
Some lawyers prefer to send out “status” letters once a month to their clients. Anything beyond this is considered hand holding- something which most personal injury lawyers don’t like doing.
However, if you want to stay up to date on the status of your case, you are more likely to get answers from the paralegal assigned to your case than you are from your personal injury lawyer in New Bedford, MA.
When you hired your lawyer, he most likely told you there will be periods when they will be simply gathering information so should anything come up, they will call you. If they don’t call you, there is usually no reason to. However, most lawyers, from experience know that whenever a client calls, they are calling to find out why the case is taking so long or that they don’t have any money.
Your call may not even be about why your case is taking too long but your lawyer doesn’t know that. That explains why they might not be in a hurry to return your call.
How to Get Your Personal Injury Lawyer to Return Your Calls
1. Stop Pestering Them
It’s okay to call your lawyer when you have something very important to ask or tell them. If you are simply calling to find out the status of your case, then his paralegal can answer any questions you have. In fact, calling to speak directly to your lawyer once a month is okay but when you start calling every week you start becoming annoying.
2. Don’t be Rude
If you call to vent, it’s very likely no one will return your calls. In fact, if your lawyer returns your call after your little venting episode, it will be most likely to tell you they’ve dropped you as a client. Nice clients get their calls returned more frequently than angry, rude ones.
3. Leave a Message
Get to the point. Did you have a question? Did you have important information? If you did, then make sure it’s included in your message. This way, your lawyer will know why you called and they will call you back with a ready answer. Let him know that returning your call isn’t going to be a waste of his time.
4. Don’t Make Your Lawyer Your Therapist
When personal injury lawyers take on a case, they are usually aware that there will be some hand holding but there is a limit. Don’t call your lawyer to talk about your problems. Your lawyer is not your therapist and chances are they would be terrible at being one anyway. Also, don’t call him just to vent about how they never return your calls.
Do You Need To Talk To A Lawyer?
If you or someone you know, has been the victim of a personal injury and needs help, contact us at our New Bedford, MA office at 508-999-0800 or fill out our contact form for a no-charge consultation. We are here to help.
