Sunday, September 7, 2008
Telephone Use in the Law Office
If you are the receptionist at a law office, could you share your experiences at the front desk? How many phone lines come into your office? Do the staff in your office have direct numbers or do you transfer the calls? What attitude is necessary to answer the phone all day? Do you ever get irate callers and how do you handle them? Would customer service experience or training be helpful in becoming a law office receptionist? Does a law office receptionist job differ from a legal administrative assistant/legal secretary? Do you enjoy working the front desk as the first impression for the law office?
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10 comments:
We have six phone lines coming into our office and I would say we average 50-75 phone calls a day.Some of the staff and attorneys have direct lines, others do not. Many of the calls come through the frontdesk and then I transfer.
Remember you are the first voice and face that the client sees to make a first impression of our firm. A pleasant, friendly voice is a must at all times. If an irate call comes in I will listen to them calmly and then I ask which attorney they work with and give the call to that attorney or their assistant.
The receptionist and the assistants do have different job descriptions but sometimes the assitants answer the phone and I do transcription and other projects for the attorneys.
Customer service would be a plus for this job.
Another area to think about is that my dress code is a bit more strict than the assistants who work in the back of the office and are not seen by the clients. I try to dress appropriately and professionally. Again, this is part of the good first impression that you want to make with your clients. Also, a smile is a must! Have a great day-Nancy
To Emily N., Jenna K. and Kate:
I do not try to answer any of the legal questions that I am asked when I answer the phone. Many times if the attorney is not available, the phone client will say, "maybe you can help me" and then will proceed to tell me the problem and ask questions. I NEVER TRY TO ANSWER ANY LEGAL QUESTIONS. I will transfer the call to the attorney or the assistant to that attorney (or their VM) and they handle the questions. The attorney is also the one who would decide if the call is billable and will bill the calls out in their monthly billing. Some of the assistants bill hours but not all of them do-I think they talk it over with the attorney they work for and decide what is billable and what is not.
There is only myself, one receptionist, the legal assistants take turns doing my am and pm and noon breaks.
It can be a bit loud at times at the desk. If you are not a multi-tasker it will not work for you in a busy law office--we have 14 staff and 10 attorneys--it is very busy and it is not for everyone--can be stressful and you are always doing 5 things at once!!
You always have to keep in mind client confidentiality so I speak firmly but quietly when I am on the phone, especially if their are clients in the waiting room. Another thing that I do is request that our assistants bring clients to a conference room instead of talking to them at the frontdesk or in the waiting area. This will keep the noise level down at my desk and is important for client confidentiality also.
I do not bill any hours at the front desk.
I think I could handle the phone calls and being nice to the customers. I just can't wait to get customer service skills. Do you get frustrated sometimes from answering too many phone calls??
You said that you do not answer any legal questions at all. Does that include things that you have learned in school regarding forms and such? For example, if someone calls regarding their simple will and ask how to fill it out or what they need to include, are you allowed to answer that or do they need to speak with the attorney?
I am the receptionist at a home health care agency right now, and we have 4 telephone lines. Sometimes the phones just do not stop ringing, and I get a little frustrated when I have a bunch of work to get done. Do other employees in the office help you out if you get bombarded?
Jenna, those are questions that would consider legal advice and should be referred to the attorney.
I work in a customer service call center. When we get an irrate caller that we cannot handle and get through to we are to send them to a consumer affairs deptartment. Not neccessarly saying a law firm would have one of those but would there be anyone else to handle the call if you could not?
Is it hard to deal with a lot of phone lines at the same time? What do you do when you have more than one person on the line, and the client is getting angry and starts to yell at you?
I do not work at a law office but i do work where phones are constantly ringing. You get off the phone with a customer and the phone rings again. My attitude is the same towards every customer. Or i least i try to be. I try to be helpful in understanding what they want or need and if they have to be directed to someone else. If a customer calls and complains about something, i say i am very sorry for the inconvience and apoligize even though it might not be my fault then transfer them to a manager and let them handle the situation because i am not authorized to give out promotions for a product that has gone wrong
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