WA Lawyers customer service lacking

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SP3

Well-Known Member
7 February 2018
29
0
121
My lawyers' customer service is severely lacking. It takes them weeks to respond to an email and then only after 2 -3 reminders. As a client I feel ignored and that my issue could take far longer to resolve than necessary. I have hinted at the unacceptable delays but received no response.
What are my options?
 

Tim W

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
28 April 2014
4,913
820
2,894
Sydney
Depends what the work is that your lawyer is doing.
Some thing have extended periods in which the "other party" can reply - 28 days, often.

Being patient while anxious is one of the hardest things for any client to do.
Being patient with a client who is impatient while anxious
is one of the hardest things for a lawyer to do.

Hard truth be, your lawyer is not your social worker, nor your counsellor, nor your therapist.

That being said, if you have a genuine enquiry, and...
  • their clerk cannot handle it; or
  • it's a conversation that is (or becomes) lengthy, or
    becomes detailed and/or technical, or
    becomes a "counselling session"; or
  • if the client wants the lawyer to Do Something new or extra
    (such as advising on why the thing the client read on the internet last night is not helpful...)
then the lawyer will typically assist you.
But that will typically be billable work, and may not be do-able right there and right then.

Further It's often the case that until there is something to tell you, or to contact you about
(for example, until the other side replies to something, or until a court date comes around),
then there's no reason to repeatedly contact you.