In many, if not most, of the client satisfaction surveys I have seen, responsiveness is a recurring issue. Clients rightly expect their lawyers to be available, to turn work around quickly and to deal with queries, be they administrative, commercial or legal. In short, to provide great service.
From the lawyers’ perspective, this perceived lack of responsiveness has to some extent been highlighted by advances in technology and telecommunications. Back in the days when letters were written and posted, lawyers had lots of time to consider their responses. Then came the telephone, but this was managed by the simple expedient of having secretaries answer it. Next was the fax machine, imposing new expectations on lawyers. These media have one thing in common – the sender cannot be sure exactly when the lawyer has received the message.
