Legal Referral Service Founder Discusses An Attorney's Obligation To Return A Client's Call

May 4, 2010 - PRLog -- Complaints about an attorney's failure to return a client's call are quite common according to M. Varn Chandola, founder of a new innovative online legal referral service known as The Right Legal Help LLC.  In a column Chandola recently wrote about lawyer professionalism, he discusses an attorney's ethical obligation to return a client's call.  The column which was originally published at http://rightlegalhelp.net/blog/ is reprinted below.

A common complaint against attorneys is that they do not promptly respond to client inquiries.  Whether an attorney fails to return a client’s call or does not take the time to sufficiently explain a legal matter relevant to the client’s case, a key aspect of a successful attorney and client relationship is that the attorney is able to effectively communicate with his or her client.  Indeed, an attorney who is delinquent in communicating with the client is subject to disciplinary action.  

The American Bar Association (ABA) provides a set of rules known as the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct which provide a standard of ethics for attorneys to follow.  Although these rules do not impose mandatory guidelines for attorneys (therefore they are referred to as “model rules”), states throughout the United States have interpreted and adopted them in developing their own rules of professional conduct for lawyers.  Attorneys are subject to discipline under their state’s rules of professional conduct.  To view these rules, one may simply visit the website for their state bar.  

Rule 1.4 of the ABA Model Rules which outlines the attorney’s obligation to communicate with his or her client states as follows:  

Rule 1.4 Communication
(a) A lawyer shall:
(1) promptly inform the client of any decision or circumstance with respect to which the client's informed consent, as defined in Rule 1.0(e), is required by these Rules;
(2) reasonably consult with the client about the means by which the client's objectives are to be accomplished;
(3) keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter;
(4) promptly comply with reasonable requests for information; and
(5) consult with the client about any relevant limitation on the lawyer's conduct when the lawyer knows that the client expects assistance not permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law.
(b) A lawyer shall explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation.

Many states simply cite Rule 1.4 along with its underlying language verbatim.  Upon reading the rule, one may infer the nature of the complaints that are made against lawyers who do not properly communicate with their clients.  An attorney’s failure to return a client’s call is a situation which falls within the scope of the rule.

Under Rule 1.4, section (a), subsection (4) an attorney is expected to “promptly” respond to “reasonable requests” for information.  This rule may be interpreted to imply that while attorneys are expected to promptly respond to client inquiries, the client must also be reasonable in his or her requests for information.  For instance, if a client calls the attorney on a daily basis to request updates on a legal matter even after the attorney has clearly explained that no developments will take place for at least several days or weeks then the client is most likely not making an unreasonable request for information.  While section (a), subsection (3) requires an attorney to sufficiently communicate with a client concerning the client’s legal status, a client should never take it for granted that an attorney will always engage in timely communication.  While there may exist justifiable reasons for not immediately getting back to a client, lack of communication by an attorney may also indicate that the attorney is either too busy with other cases or simply lacks proper time management skills.  An attorney who fails to timely respond (or not respond at all) to client inquiries may also end up being delinquent in other ways as well such as missing filing deadlines or neglecting to inform the client of important developments.  While a client should not needlessly contact his or her attorney (the client should allow the attorney to spend valuable rather than wasteful time on the case), it is important for a client to periodically communicate with the attorney if for no other reason than to remind the attorney that the client exists and that the client has an important legal matter which is second to none!  

When the client must leave a message for an unavailable attorney, the client should not leave a general “please call me back” message, but provide a brief, but specific, description of what information is sought.    

So what should a client do when an attorney fails to call back?  When an attorney does not respond to reasonable requests for information then the client must consider options such as retaining a new attorney or filing a complaint against their attorney with the state bar.  There are many good lawyers in every jurisdiction and one should not continue to have the misfortune of being stuck with one of the few bad ones.        

There are many sources available for finding a good attorney including our service, The Right Legal Help.  Please feel free to visit us at http://www.rightlegalhelp.net.

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The Right Legal Help LLC is an online legal referral service which provides customers with an unrestricted choice of legal service providers for their legal needs.

The founder and member of the company is M. Varn Chandola who has spent over twenty years in the legal field which includes experience as an attorney, legal recruiter, legal researcher and legal author.