Holiday season is here!
Where everyone is planning their Christmas parties, holiday gifts, legal professionals may be scrambling to manage staff, holiday break, and client communication.
Even though offices will be closed during the holiday season. Lawyers and firms have to manage deadlines, coordinate time off, and finish all important paperwork before a much-needed break.
Being a legal professional can sometimes be challenging, but don’t worry, we have got your back. We will be sharing some useful tips for law firm client communication during holidays. This will help you in managing both your personal and professional lives.
Why Is Holiday Client Management For Law Firms Necessary?
Legal client communication for lawyers during the holiday season is important because it will help in setting clear expectations. Law firms become more busy as the year draws to an end. Lawyers will be wrapping up cases and taking some time off at this time of the year. So communicating with clients, letting them know when you are available and how they can reach you is crucial. This will help in setting clear boundaries.
Tips For Managing Law Firm Clients During Holidays
Here are some holiday client management tips for lawyers that are going to make their holiday season stress-free:
Plan Ahead and Prioritize
Before the rush for the holiday season begins, you need to sit down to plan and prioritize your tasks. Take a look at your caseload, and deadlines that fall during the holiday season. Make sure to work on these deadlines in advance so you don’t have to struggle during the holiday season. If you miss any crucial deadline at the time of the holiday season, it will impact your client relationships. So be prepared in advance and plan accordingly.
Plan Time Off
During the holiday season, you and your firm will be taking time off. So plan that time off. Ask how you are going to manage your time and cases. Ask everyone to finish all their crucial tasks. You can shuffle your staff breaks if it is not possible for everyone to take a break at the same time. Let your clients know about the availability of your staff.
Check Deadlines
A legal professional’s career revolves around deadlines. Every day lawyers have to manage deadlines related to cases, documents, fillings, statute of limitations and expiry dates, etc. All these dates are crucial. If you miss any of these deadlines, you will face court barring your case from being heard. Before going on a break, ensure everything is on track and also set a client communication plan according to the scheduled timeline.
Communicate Holiday Hours to Clients and Colleagues
Once the holiday calendar is ready, it is time to communicate with your clients and colleagues. Send an email to your clients and let them know the date that you won’t be available. If you are a law firm and there are various attorneys working in it. All the attorneys can communicate with their clients and let them know about their holiday break and availability.
Wrap Up Loose Ends and Give Updates
In order to enjoy your holiday break it is important to wrap up all the loose ends. Share all your work updates with clients. Communicate about the work that you have done in advance. If there is a court date or other deadline during your break. Communicate about that with your clients and let them know about your work advances.
Hire a Virtual Assistant
If you have a lot of work and your year-end is usually busy. Hiring a virtual assistant and delegating your work is the best way to manage everything. You can’t do everything by yourself and the holiday season demands a little break. So consider hiring a virtual assistant. Also, you should communicate with your clients about this too. You can introduce your assistant to the clients with whom he will be working.
Stay on Top of Law Firm Marketing
The holiday season is a perfect time for marketing your firm and services. You can use different law firm marketing strategies and effective lead-generation methods to capture the attention of potential clients. You can post on social media if you are offering any discounts or just share the experience of your current clients. This will help in building a strong social media presence. If you are using CaseFox, you can use the customizable intake form to gather lead generation data.
Make Your Firm Accessible, Anytime
Making your firm accessible all the time will keep the communication channel open. Your clients will feel heard. For this, you don’t need to be sitting in an office. You can simply use case management software for it. You can set aside a few minutes to connect with your clients. With CaseFox, you will get a client portal feature that will allow you to connect and communicate with your clients anytime it is required. CaseFox will make your firm accessible all the time.
Emergency Contact Plan
Despite planning everything in advance, emergencies can arise. You can’t predict them in advance. So make sure to prepare a clear emergency plan in advance. This will ensure that clients know how to reach you in case of an emergency. Having a clear point of contact will make communication more easy and any emergency will be addressed immediately.
The Bottom Line
Law Firm Management during the holiday season is much needed. Make sure you are making plans in advance to manage your work and client communication during your holiday break. Set clear boundaries for personal and professional life. Send a holiday card or email to your clients and let them know what will be your working hours during the holiday season. If you are unable to communicate with them about it let them know who will be the point of contact during your break.
You can even invest in legal case management software like CaseFox to make yourself accessible all the time. Although you don’t have to be available 24*7 during holidays, the software communication becomes easier and clients can connect with you in case of emergencies.