Legal Writing

Have You Read 70c40efd-86ef-4d27-90b5-8d818b15f2fc.pdf?

Seems as if some law firms are going against the flow.

While companies around the world are following Apple’s lead in making everything simple and easy to use, law firms touting their deep and abiding commitment to excellence are, to some extent, treating their clients like machines rather than people.

When a company (or law firm) really cares about excellence, it shows; and it shows in very many things. If a customer has a question, the company that really cares responds promptly and in suitable style; that is, the answer isn’t just delivered quickly, it makes sense.

And the company that really cares doesn’t confront the layperson with highly technical information.

Here’s an example. If you download the QuickTime 7.2 User’s Guide from Apple.com, you get a file named QuickTime_7.2_User_Guide.pdf.

That makes perfect sense. The file name says the file contains the user guide for version 7.2 of QuickTime. That’s quite a convenience.

Now, download some files your firm’s web site. Download some client alerts, or newsletters, or press releases.

Do they have descriptive names like karvelas-on-US_steel-v-Shell.pdf

or meaningless names like 70c40efd-86ef-4d27-90b5-8d818b15f2fc.pdf?

If the latter, then your firm isn’t really serious about offering superior client service.

And neither are the firm’s leaders.

If they were truly serious about client service, if they had Steve Jobs’ passion for superior service, it would show; it would show in big things, and it would show in the little things*.

As it is, the managers of so many firms are far too busy to really worry about little things.

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* Sure, how you name the files you provide to clients and prospective clients seems trivial, but it’s important. Imagine someone doing research. He collects a folder full of files he wants to review. If the names of the files from Firm A are meaningful and the files from Firm B are meaningless, guess which firm the researcher likes best.

Full post as published by Set in Style on May 10, 2010 (boomark / email).