Or do they?
A big, perhaps, one of the biggest concerns immigration clients express is the level of accessibility they will have to their lawyers. After all people are playing thousands of dollars for legal services that will have a major impact on their lives i.e., moving to a new country temporarily or permanently.  Sadly, the reputation that many immigration and other types of  lawyers and law firms have is that they fail to get back to clients on a timely basis.
In the age of the Internet and email, mobile phones, auto reminders there really is no excuse for this. While it is true that lawyers are busy people, often tied up in court or in meetings, it is really nothing to just send an email to a client that you will get back to him or her and set a reminder to do so.
A simple “how can I help you?. I heard that you called”, goes a long way to instill confidence, show you care, and most importantly service your clients: they may have something really important to tell you about their file and the lawyer will never know this if they don’t pick up the phone.
Law Societies, the regulating bodies that ensure lawyers are behaving properly, always are tell its members that the number one complaint clients have is the failure to return their phone calls. At our office we have installed  reminder systems that make sure we keep everyone (clients and other staff working on a file) informed about the “goings-on” with a file, including the need to call back a client.
It is really a little, simple thing. But in life and in law, its the little things that often get overlooked.
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
