There Is Such a Thing as Great Customer Service!
I am terrible at providing emotional support for clients. Not because I’m not empathetic, but when you’re involved with something that has certain consequences, which overlaps financial outcome and health, you’re on a slippery slope of unpredictable psychological and emotional responses. At least 90% of clients have only a soft tissue injury, yet they need the most emotional support. Why? Because they are panicking about whether they will get anything out of the case. But I have cases where clients break legs, arms, and ribs and undergo serious surgical procedures where clients are complete troopers. I am not a trained therapist, but for me to provide the best possible management of the case, it was important for me to learn to effectively communicate with people who are generally neurotic, suffer from acute anxiety, paranoid, or delusional, which makes up 80% of all personal injury clients. The number is even higher when they are the drivers.
In order for me to learn how to provide emotional support to be able to better connect with clients, I had to learn from scratch, and I found the most appropriate source to learn that skill. I tapped into vast medical and psychological journals on palliative care. Why palliative care? Because when you tell a client some bad news about their case, they act like they’re about to freaking die, and doctors who deal with near-death patients are masters of telling people the worst possible news. Especially the end-of-life palliative care doctors. I figured it was a good start.
My first lesson was to never underestimate a client’s injury or subjective complaints because even with minimal soft tissue injuries, an injury is still an injury, and it can still hurt or the very least, be inconvenient. The enormous physical, emotional, and financial stress can be overwhelming for a client, even with soft tissue injuries—even if it is mild discomfort. If a client is suffering ongoing aches and pain, it either limits or prevents them from doing regular daily activities. Simple tasks such as vacuuming and carrying groceries with mild ongoing pain or discomfort can become a painful nightmare. On top of that, many of my clients treat an average of two to four days per week for months or longer until they fully recover, and that can take away a lot of their time either from work, school, or their families.
With a combination of the pain and the amount of time it takes to treat certain injuries, most clients go through a lot of emotional and financial stress. They are missing days off from work, cannot be fully active in their daily lifestyle, are not fully capable of performing their jobs, and most importantly, are not being active or fully capable with their family members. For a client in constant pain and discomfort, being a single parent and, even worse, being a parent of a young child who requires constant care and the ability to lift that child up can create an overwhelming situation, and I have seen it countless of times. These are some of the basic factors, which I argue during the negotiation process. Especially the soft tissue threshold cases, because they’re the toughest to negotiate. It’s not easy to convince the insurance company adjuster to pay out on a case, which has very minimal injuries, causation issues, or degenerative findings.
In my line of work, or specifically being a settlement negotiator, I have to find a fine balance between providing emotional support and settling a case. If I cross the line in either direction, it will be very difficult to settle anything. If I don’t provide enough emotional support to a client and focus purely on settlement, the client will want to leave us because the client will begin to feel neglected, regardless of the possible outcome. If I spend all day providing emotional support and answering calls, which are mostly about the status of the case, nothing will ever settle either.
So what’s the fix? The answer is as simple as time management and proper sign-up of the client, which includes a thorough explanation of the process from day one so that there are no surprises and the client will have a better understanding of what to expect.
On any sign-ups that I have ever done, very few clients ever leave me, and that’s because I spend more time with them explaining the process. I would rather spend that extra 45 minutes with a client to build trust and a relationship than to watch them leave a few weeks or days later because they felt uncomfortable with the firm. I have seen clients leave an attorney the next day because the attorney or one of his minions tried to rush the sign-up process. On every sign-ups that I do, I give them all the same word for word speech:
First part is to introduce myself:
Note: I make it clear to them that I have full authority over their cases. That’s because I generally do.
Hello, my name is Alexander Mirvis. I am the senior case manager. I am responsible for the overall aspect of your case and will help you out throughout the process of the case at every stage. If I am not available, the attorney is always available to help, and if I myself or the attorney is not available, you can reach out to any other senior paralegals in the office. They are more than capable of helping. We work here as a team.
Note: Take notice of how I not only re-assure the client that I am more than capable of handling their case but also make sure that the client understands that the rest of the senior staff is also highly capable and always available if they need to speak to someone. I also emphasize that we all work as a team and that anyone in the office can help.
Signing the Paperwork:
I never make them fill out the intake, MV-104 (if applicable), and the retainer until I explain exactly what they are signing. But first, I make them sign the HIPAA authorizations and typically no more than 10 to 15 pages because I don’t want to keep them in the office for too long. While they are signing the HIPAAs, I generally don’t like to talk because I don’t want to rush or distract them. I carefully make sure that they are comfortable and that there is no need to rush. After they sign everything, I move on to the intake and the retainer. I carefully explain to them what the attorney fees are and the expenses associated with the case. When they fill anything out, I generally do as little talking as possible because I prefer the client gives me their full attention. It is important that they are focused and listening to me carefully.
Explaining the Case and Treatment Process:
For this book’s purposes, we will specifically focus on motor vehicle accidents since this is mostly what I deal with. This is the exact speech I give to each client on what they can expect with a personal injury case and the difference between each claim type associated with their case:
This is the general process of a motor vehicle case. Before I get into details, I would like to point out that each case is different, and as you go through each step, in most cases, it will be different for you as it is for someone else. Even if you were already previously involved in a motor vehicle accident before, the process and the possible outcome can be different as well.
The most important part for you is to treat and take care of your body. We will take care of the rest. It is important that before you make any decision with your doctor, you call us first. We would also like you to call us every 30 days to advise us on your treatment status and see how you are doing. We are not doctors, so we can’t recommend what procedures your need; however, if the doctor DOES recommend doing a procedure, please decide to do it ASAP, while your No-Fault claim is still open. Because once the No-Fault is cut off, no one is paying for the treatment bill, and the procedure will have to come out of your settlement.
As far as anything else while you are treating, not much will be happening on your case. You will receive a lot of letters in the mail from no-fault, and most of them look like bills and denials. Don’t worry about the bills and denials. They are normal, and you’re just getting copies of what the insurance company is getting billed for by the doctors. The only letters we do care about are the appointment letters. These appointments are for IME (Independent Medical Exams) by the insurance doctors. If you get one, call us immediately. In most cases, the insurance companies send you the letters weeks before we get them. When you get these letters, we will advise you what to do.
If there are any other specific issues with the case, we will alert you and advise your situations and possible options.
As you can see, I have covered the basics of the treatment stage of the case and, at the same time, took my time to assure the client that we are diligently working on the case, whether the client is calling us or not for the status update. In most cases, once I clearly explain everything to the client, they generally don’t call the office with anxiety or freaking out about every letter they receive from the insurance company. During the sign-up process, a lot of clients generally ask me the same three questions, and this is how I generally respond. One thing which I would like to point out is that I try to be as vague as possible because, on one end, if I don’t give a client a detailed answer, the client will start questioning my abilities. On the other hand, if I give them a detailed answer and toward the end, we don’t meet their expectations, the clients will call us liars. Through trial and error, I have figured out the best answers to the top three questions, which a client may ask me:
1) Q: How much is my case worth?
A: There is no pre-determined formula to calculate the value of a case. Especially while you are still treating. Until you have finished treating and we submit your medical records to the insurance company to start the negotiation process, we would not know. There are too many factors to consider. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are lying to you because it’s virtually impossible to predict the possible outcome. However, we will try to recover as much money as possible. The more you get paid, the more we get paid, so we will obviously try to recover as much money as possible.
2) Q: Will my insurance rates go up if I open a case or a claim?
A: Generally, it may only go up if you’re at fault for the accident. Also, most insurance companies may raise your rates whether you open a claim or not if you are at fault. So, if you’re injured, you might as well open a claim so you could treat and get better, regardless of the possible outcome of the case.
3) Q: How long do I have to treat for?
A: I can’t tell you that. We’re not licensed physicians. You treat for as long as it takes until you feel better. These types of decisions should be made with your doctors. However, if your injuries don’t meet the New York State Serious Injury Law(s) standards, your case may be denied.
Working with Interpreters:
If a client speaks a different language other than English, there is a formal etiquette I follow, which is something I learned in the Army. More specifically, during my deployment to Iraq in 2005. In Iraq, we heavily relied on interpreters to not only win the hearts and minds of Iraqis but to also gain a broader sense of situational awareness by interacting with the locals with the help of interpreters. We also followed strict guidelines, which the Human Intelligence Collection experts trained us on.
As I have mentioned before, “winning hearts and minds” is not easy, and there are certain protocols the military follows in order to do just that. Especially when it comes to using interpreters. The goal is not only to communicate without any significant loss of translation. And it is much harder to earn trust through an interpreter if the client loses focus or is feeling uncomfortable with not one person talking but two.
The first thing I do is position the client in such a way that we face each other. I always try to keep the interpreter as far back as possible but on the side between me and the client. This way, when I talk, the client can see my facial expressions and focus only on me as the interpreter talks. This not only allows a clear line of communication but also allows the client to focus on the subject at hand. In many cases, this helps with dealing with irate or upset clients, which is a common occurrence.
Providing Emotional Support:
I am not a psychologist nor a therapist. However, in many cases, I feel like I am one. As a case manager or a settlement negotiator, this responsibility falls on my lap because, in most cases, attorneys do not want to deal with any emotional baggage. As engaged as the attorneys seem, the majority of the emotional support responsibilities usually go to the poor paralegals and settlement negotiators. In some cases, no matter how well the case managers and paralegals work with clients, the clients still want to talk to the attorney just to reassure them. But the bulk of the emotional baggage usually lands on me.
In almost all cases, regardless of how trivial or serious the injuries may be, the output of emotional distress seems to be at the same levels. As if the plaintiffs are following a pre-written script on how to project their subjective emotional and physical complaints. Early in my career, I quickly learned that the clients do that because they are all hoping that the more they yell and cry to the attorney, the more money they will receive on their case. Unfortunately, that’s far from the truth, and for the most part, it’s very difficult to explain to the client that their emotional output is unnecessary and for their case purposes, we only need their medical records, go through the litigation process, and so forth. I wish I could emphasize to clients that the less interaction we have, the better it is for their case because instead of focusing on their case, we waste time trying to make them feel better. Especially when you’re working in a firm with 600+ personal injury cases and if at least 25% of these clients call at least once a week for case status, you’ve already wasted a lot of time. In fact, there are some days where I can’t get anything done because every client decides to call for case status and keep you on the phone for 30 minutes talking about their pet fish and how it’s affecting their treatment. It gets even worse during holiday seasons because they need money.
Giving Case Status:
I hate giving case status. Clients hate hearing facts, bad news, or the fact that they must wait until the case gets resolved. Most clients are blatantly stupid. I can’t even deny that. Stupid clients react to facts, which they don’t like to hear with anger and aggression because they don’t know how to communicate effectively or think objectively. Just think about it; people hire lawyers because they need someone smarter than them to defend their rights and make decisions for them. Giving case status is probably one of the most tedious and the most annoying things I do. Other than filling out HIPAA forms. The difficulty is compounded when you are forced to give them bad news. Especially to clients that have a short-term memory loss, who forget what was told to them even though the conversation was relatively recently. As recent as a few days prior. No joke! I had some clients that called almost every day because they forgot that they called the day prior and forgot what was told to them during that conversation.
Giving case status to a client is always a delicate situation. Whether I am dealing with someone that is not that bright or someone that has a massive anxiety disorder, a simple status call can be the difference between making a client happy or a client leaving your firm to someone else’s because that client doesn’t like what they heard.
Dealing with someone that has a distorted view of reality or delusions also has its own challenges. I once had a client that was involved in a motor vehicle accident and injured her back. What made this client different was that she “felt” that it wasn’t her back that was injured but her pituitary gland. Aside from the routine physical therapy and chiropractic treatment, she bounced from one neuro specialist to another to “fix” her pituitary gland. We naturally dropped the case because she kept focusing on her pituitary gland and was clearly not injured. She would call my office almost daily on either case status or help with finding more neuro specialists to “fix” her pituitary glands.
That brings me to the next type of my most hated clients. The frequent callers. The type that has a massive anxiety disorder and can’t control their anxiety, so they must call almost every day and for almost any reason. To make things worse, they try to keep you on the phone for as long as possible because they’re always panicking about something. There is no real solution to such clients except to be extremely patient while also hoping that they won’t leave you because you didn’t answer one of their calls or forgot to call back because you had more important things to do. Other than that, there is not much you can do. Just take the beatings but also try to settle their damn case as soon as practically possible. For a reasonable value, of course!
Relaying Offers and Settling the Case:
This part always gives me the goosebumps. Probably one of the most difficult parts of trying to settle the case. When it comes to money, for most people, it is a very sensitive topic. Clients without any legal background always have a value in mind based on what they need at the time. Regardless of their injuries, if they want to buy a house, that’s the number that they think will settle the case. Even when I settle a case for a client who is not even injured or whose injury was not caused by the accident, they still expect top dollar, which is usually unrealistic. Every penny counts for them. The reason for this is the all-too-common mental block and being completely detached from objective reality. Clients do not see nor want to see the factors that come into play that insurance companies use to evaluate cases. They do not know what the value of the cases is either. All they see or know is that they want or need money, and they unjustifiably expect top dollar. Whether they deserve the money or not. I find it to be truer with clients who are not injured or the injury they claimed were not the result of the accident. They try to justify an unrealistic value that much harder.
Generally, people who are not injured or the injuries are not accident-related are more neurotic because they are scared about going through all the troubles, such as treatment, for nothing. They are always putting more pressure on the attorney to settle the case. They would call almost daily and sometimes multiple times a day and, in some cases, harass the staff.
This is where the importance is of thoroughly explaining the process to the client on day one. This is exactly why I take my time on the initial intake to explain how this all works, how cases are evaluated, possible issues that may arise, and most importantly, the breakdown of the expenses because every lawyer in New York State charges the same. They take 33.3% of attorney’s fees plus any other expenses such as litigation costs out of your settlement. Most clients forget that at the time of settlement and get angry when they see the final numbers. But if you thoroughly explain to the client that these are the additional expenses you were talking about since day one, they will not be as pissed. Sometimes, they may need that extra reminder, and I bring out the retainer that they signed and point out that I went over the retainer with them line by line during the signup process. If the process or the breakdown of the expenses was not explained to the client, you can expect a lot of rage.
Working out the liens:
In all honesty, in most cases, I really do not care about the client’s liens. What is a lien? A lien is when a client owes money to someone. It could be for cash advances, medical treatment, Medicaid or Medicare, or something else that paid out during their case. Cash advance is when you take out a loan against your case. Medical liens are also bad. They happen when the medical benefits are either exhausted, or the client has negative IMEs (Independent Medical Exams). Medical liens can also happen when there is an incident or incidents where no medical benefits such as No-Fault can be established due to statute of limitations or other weird reasons. There are also the Medicaid and Medicare liens. If a client is treated under Medicaid and/or Medicare, then they also want at least some of their money back.
My favorite and funniest liens to deal with is the Child Support Liens. Why? Because most liens can be negotiated. Child support liens are from the state government and cannot be negotiated. I have had this one case where a client somehow owed $75, 000 in child support, and the offer to settle his case was $40, 000, which was a gift. I always get a smile on my face when I settle a bullshit case, and all their money is at least going to somewhere more meaningful, like paying off child support. In most cases, regardless of how I feel about the client, I have a duty to look out for the best interest of the client, and I follow that duty to the letter, so I try to negotiate all these liens as much as possible. Why? Mostly because if I cannot negotiate the lien and the client sees a huge chunk of change of their settlement go to the lien, they have no incentive to settle the case. Not to mention, they all throw a tantrum because it is coming out of their settlements, and that is something I always try to avoid.
I have a basic technique on how I negotiate or work out these liens. At the end of the day, it all comes down to making a simple decision. It is either the lien holder lowers their demand, and of course, I try to get them to lower the demand as low as possible, or I stop bringing them business. This is mostly referring to doctors and loan companies. Medicaid and Medicare have always been really good with liens. They negotiate pennies on the dollar. They once reduced a $100, 000 lien to $5, 000.
Do not deliberately lie to clients:
Being honest with clients can go a really long way and can help you avoid a lot of problems. Lying can be so dangerous. Remember that everything now is on social media. The last thing you want is some emotionally sensitive millennial accusing you of lying to them just because they’re too stupid to understand something. Especially if it has to do with something like the potential possible outcome or value of a case. Attorneys and case managers always have to keep in mind that most people are stupid. You may discuss or mention a possible outcome, but these clients will claim that you promised them a specific result.
On the other hand, you must accept the fact that clients will never lose an opportunity to lie either. Whether they have a legitimate case or not, clients will lie through their teeth because in their head, exaggerating facts will bring them a better outcome.