Why Your Corporate Law Firm Needs an Answering Service

Corporate law focuses on the rights, relations, and conduct of companies, organizations, and businesses. As more businesses start up and others mature, the rich interplay between organizations, the growing number of mergers and acquisitions, and potential rights-related issues between companies grows. That’s good news for corporate law firms, except that it could mean existing office staff is overtasked. 

The state of corporate law today

According to end-of-year reporting from IBIS World, corporate law firms have seen significant financial growth with an industry value of $160.4 billion. However, despite that financial growth, firms are shrinking in the US, with a drop of .3% in law firm size. The number of corporate law firms also shrank.

The takeaway here is that the boost in profitability comes at the expense of what limited-time corporate law office teams have. With fewer firms and fewer employees overall, existing team members are taxed to their maximum. In addition to their legal duties, such as research, documentation, contract creation, and business advisement, law office team members must also answer phone calls, reply to website query forms, vet leads, handle billing, and so much more. 

A legal answering service could be the solution that takes mundane but important tasks like these off critical team members so they can focus on growth and client-related responsibilities. But what can a law firm answering service provide? 

Predictability amidst the chaos

Corporate law might not have the same urgency as criminal law, but things can still become quite chaotic. That’s particularly true when you throw incoming calls into the mix. 

Legal teams never know what to expect when answering, and if the firm is particularly busy, there may not be a designated person available to answer inbound calls. That means you’re missing potential client calls. 

You might assume that they’ll just leave a voicemail, and you can get back to them later, but today’s clientele is unlikely to leave a voicemail in the first place. On top of that, most law firms can take days to return calls due to their busy schedules, and there’s a good chance that those potential clients have found representation elsewhere by that point.

A legal answering service ensures that every call that comes through is answered promptly and professionally. Every potential client is greeted by an experienced virtual receptionist, their questions are answered, and they feel both valued and recognized. 

Gathering information

A great deal of a corporate law professional’s time is spent gathering information. It might be delving into business rights precedents, hammering out the details that will go into a new partnership agreement, or doing due diligence before a merger. However, many attorneys and their teams forget to gather information from one of the most critical places: those calling their firms. 

A single missed detail – like a telephone number or email address – could mean being unable to contact a potential client again. It might also mean having to ask leads for the same information over again, which does not create a positive impression.

A legal answering service helps corporate law offices get around these issues. Virtual receptionists gather a wide range of important information from each caller, including:

• Name

• Phone number

• Email address

• Physical address

• Reason for contacting

• Previous relationships/touchpoints with the firm

That information is then entered into the law firm’s CRM software. That ensures everyone who connects with the caller in the future has access to critical information, so they don’t have to ask for it again. They can also add further details relevant to each touchpoint, building a more accurate picture over time.

Handling billing challenges

How much time does your legal team spend handling billing? Chances are good that it’s not an insignificant amount. Corporate law firms often deal with businesses that pay on net 30, net 60, or net 90-day plans, which can make tracking which client is due to pay what bill on what day more than a little challenging. And then there’s additional time lost dealing with clients who are slow to pay or who won’t pay.

With a legal answering service, your team can say goodbye to billing-related woes. A virtual receptionist service can handle collecting payments from current clients, but can also deal with slow and non-paying clients, so you don’t have to worry about collection actions, either.

Navigating appointment complexity

Appointment setting for a corporate law firm is an art unto itself. It’s not just about finding an open slot during a regular weekday. It requires navigating a complex schedule that may change at a moment’s notice. Attorneys and other team members may be working out of the office at a client’s location, at a remote site, or be in court or mediation.

A virtual receptionist can help navigate the complexity here, ensuring that potential clients can book appointments easily. They can combine that with information gathering so that the onboarding process is smoother, and clients enjoy a better overall experience. 

Focus on client needs while we handle the rest

Operating a successful corporate law office requires deep knowledge of modern business law. However, the law office is also a business and must be operated as such. A legal answering service ensures that corporate lawyers and their teams can focus on client needs, from business rights disputes to acquisitions and everything in between, while ensuring that office functions are being handled by a trusted partner.

At Smith.ai, our experienced virtual receptionists can offer the right combination of services to free you and your team to do what you do best. That includes appointment setting, 24/7 call answering, payment collection, call intelligence, spam/sales call blocking, and more.

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai.