The job of a personal injury lawyer is to fight for their clients’ rights to adequate compensation for the trauma, pain, and suffering they have experienced. However, their role goes far beyond gathering evidence and negotiating with insurance companies on behalf of their clients. They must also provide a listening ear and be a guiding light during one of the most stressful times of someone’s life.
When you’re new to law, being able to reduce your clients’ stress levels may not come naturally, but you might have some luck by utilizing any of the following techniques.
Providing Clear Expectations
Every personal injury case is different, with some being clear-cut with expected outcomes and others requiring a little more effort with evidence gathering. You might be able to reduce your clients’ stress levels by providing clear expectations from the beginning.
Outline how strong their case is and the steps they need to take to make it stronger, but never tell them that their case is a sure win or that they can expect to receive specific damages. If you’re over-confident and the outcome isn’t as expected, your client might be disadvantaged.
Being an Effective Communicator
Many lawyers work on more than one case at a time, and their days can fly by quickly as they lay the foundation for success with everything they have on their plate. However, if you or your law firm don’t communicate with your clients whenever you make progress or something happens, it’s easy for them to become stressed and assume their case is at a standstill.
Be clear with how you’ll communicate with them from when you take on their case. Provide them with contact information if they need to reach you, and assure them that even when they don’t hear from you, their case is your priority, and they’ll always know about any progress you make.
Empathizing With Their Situation
Every year, millions of people in the United States are injured. Your client isn’t unique, but that doesn’t mean their problems, pain, and suffering aren’t real and unique to them.
Treat every client with compassion, empathy, and understanding, even if you’ve already seen several clients in the same situation. They are going through one of the most challenging events of their life, and you can quickly become their sounding board and confidante.
Being Transparent With Billing
Every personal injury attorney bills differently, and it’s essential to be entirely transparent with how your law firm operates to keep your clients’ stress levels to a minimum. If they know the costs they face to utilize your services, there can be no surprises when they receive their bill.
Many lawyers operate on a contingency fee basis, which means they only pay their lawyers if they win. Often, the lawyers receive a percentage of the settlement, which is generally between 20 and 40%.
However, even if the client is unsuccessful in their claim, there can be associated fees and costs to cover, such as expert witnesses, administration, and court filing fees.
You might never be able to alleviate your clients’ concerns and reduce their stress levels entirely, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try. By being a listening ear, an effective communicator, and completely transparent, your clients might enjoy a far less stressful lawsuit experience.
