Episode # 195: An Underutilized Law Firm Client Management Strategy

Well, hello, hello everyone. Welcome to the Life & Law Podcast. This is your host, Heather Moulder. And today we are getting into an underutilized law firm client management strategy. And that is when to…

Let go of a client.

Fire a client.

Stop representing a client.

[00:01:44] And let me just say this, we have all seen those lawyers who take on whatever work or client comes their way.

• Even when it’s not work they enjoy or it’s work they feel very strongly about in a negative manner.
• Even when the client is a bit on the needy side.
• Even when they are at their client’s beck and call. No matter when they call, no matter what they ask them to do, no matter how crazy the timeline that they’ve asked them to do it in.
• Even though some of these clients do not respect their time, their efforts, or their schedule.

You can probably tell where we’re going – at least partly – with this because I’m giving you some hints around when to let go of and/or fire a client.

What Is Client Management? (Hint: It’s Not ONLY About Keeping Clients Happy)

So, when it comes to client management, most of us think in terms of all the things we and our team must do to keep clients happy. Those things I mentioned earlier. Things like:

• Building strong relationships,
• Learning their needs and anticipating them,
• Effective problem-solving,
• Communication skills
• Giving great service.
• Doing what it takes to ensure that the client is always happy.

[00:02:51] But at what cost?

And have you asked that? At what cost? At what cost to you? At what cost to your team? At what cost to the work that you’re doing on behalf of those clients and others? At what cost?

Client management is not just about keeping a particular client happy. It is about having a successful and sustainable law practice – a whole business.

[00:03:20] And that is why it sometimes means letting someone go. Because you cannot have strong relationships with your most valued clients if you’re not showing up as your best self, if your team isn’t showing up as their best selves. And you’re not showing up as your best self:

• If a client is taking advantage of you,
• If a client is making you crazy, and/or
• If the client or the work that they have for you is just not a good fit for you, for your personality, for your values, for the practice you ultimately want.

[00:03:56] Which is why today I am here to kind of shout it from the rooftops that sometimes your absolute best (#1) client management strategy is to let a client go. To say, “I’m sorry, but I can no longer take work from you.” Or even, if done ethically, fire them while on a current deal or case.

When Does It Make Sense To Fire A Client As Your Client Management Strategy?

So the question becomes: When does it make sense to use this as a client management strategy?

After all, all clients can be a bit needy from time to time. All clients can be a bit difficult from time to time. Because newsflash, they’re human beings too. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to fire somebody just because you have a difficult deal or a difficult case with them. That’s not what we are talking about here.

We are talking about reasons for letting go because it’s just not worth it for you. And here’s something to get behind and understand. It might have been worth it at a point in time, earlier in your career when you had more energy, when you were trying to build your practice, when you thought you wanted to do that type of work or work for that type of client. And then on down the line, three, four, five or more years later, you realize it no longer is. That’s okay.

Things To Consider When Firing A Client

[00:05:14] Before we move on to the five signs it’s time to let go of a client, I want to note something. You might identify that it is time to let go of a client, yet not be able to do it immediately or completely. You get to decide how to let go, what to let go of.

You might need to finish out a deal or a case and just not take anything new. You might have political issues within your law firm to navigate before being able to let go. You might even want to get other people involved in your firm who can take over. Because maybe it is a client the firm wants, but it’s just not the right-fit client for you.

So again, I’m not saying you immediately let go. I’m not saying you necessarily let go of the client as a whole from a firm standpoint. And we’ll get into some specific examples that will showcase this for you. Do not convince yourself to immediately let go, no matter what. Sometimes that is not the best thing for you or your career or your law practice. You get to decide the when, the how, and the what. So keep that in mind.

And there isn’t necessarily a best way to fire a client. That’s the second point. But the bare minimum is this. Do it ethically and make sure it feels right to you, that it fits your standards and your values.

[00:06:46] So let’s get into when you should start thinking hard about letting go of a client as part of your client management strategy.

Reason #1: The Work Itself

[00:06:55] Number one, and it is amazing to me how often I see this, you really can’t stand the work that you’re doing for that client. Maybe it’s out of your area of interest, maybe it started in an area of interest, but over time you have decided you no longer enjoy doing this work or the work itself has changed.

So, for example, I had a client a couple of years ago who came to me very, very unhappy in her practice thinking, “I’m never gonna be happy again. I used to be, I no longer like a large portion of the clients I work for. The type of work has changed over time.”

And she’s a healthcare lawyer. And this healthcare lawyer. You know, a lot has happened in the industry that has really changed the tenor of the work that was being done for a certain type of client. And it really wasn’t the people. She liked the people, fine. It was the work. The work itself was not enjoyable for her. It didn’t fit her values, it didn’t fit the why behind why she even became a lawyer. But she felt stuck because it was a large piece of her practice and it was also wanted by the firm. This type of work because it’s lucrative, it made real money for the firm. And funny enough, she didn’t even realize this was the main problem.

She came to me for a work-life balance, for a better work-life balance and didn’t realize that the main reason she felt so off kilter was this thing. Once we identified this, we had to get past some mindset shifts to let go of these clients. But she did, over the course of about 12 to 18 months, slowly but surely do less and less of that work and hand more and more of that work over to other attorneys who could do just as good of a job within the firm. So the firm did not get rid of the work. The firm still did this lucrative work, but she let go of that work and she was able to add in more of the type of work that she truly enjoyed as a replacement. So this took time.

I’m just going to note this is not something that we necessarily do overnight.

[00:09:02] But what she found is that within three to four months of even starting this process, she felt way better because she had a plan and she was implementing the plan and she could see an end, right? A light at the end of that tunnel. Ultimately, this client actually kept some percentage of that work. As she effectively implemented the plan of letting go more and more and building out the practice she truly wanted, she realized that a certain percentage, say 10, 15, 20% of her practice could be that work without it really bringing her down and being a problem for her as long as the rest of the work was stuff she truly enjoyed.

So that was number one. Can’t stand the work because it’s out of your area of interest. It’s developed into something you just can’t stand anymore. It’s in an industry you don’t like. Whatever it is, if you truly cannot stand the work, it is a huge red flag. And this is one of those reasons lawyers end up super unhappy, y’all.

So this is an important client management strategy for long-term sustainability of your practice because your practice is not going to be sustainable if you’re that unhappy. You are not going to show up as your best. You are not going to do your best work. You are ultimately potentially going to end up totally burned out.

Reason #2: Client Resentment

[00:10:19] Sign number two. You feel bitter and or resentful of the client themselves.

Either the client doesn’t respect your time or the efforts you’re putting in. Maybe they complain a lot, maybe they call you at all hours. They create emergencies. That’s a big one. And this is important. There’s no way you feel they can change at this point because you’ve already drawn boundaries that they refuse to honor.

Now that is an important piece. You want to make sure that if you’re feeling bitter or resentful of a client, that it’s not because of you, it’s truly because it’s just not a personality fit. This is where this comes into play. So sometimes we say, call me at any hour. We say, don’t worry about it. When they come to you with an emergency that they’ve created, or it’s an emergency that they’ve known about for two weeks and they’re just getting to you about it, and they could have gotten to you earlier and it wouldn’t have been quite the emergency that it’s turned into.

[00:11:21] These are indications that it’s time to have conversations with a client, set some standards and boundaries, and start effectively trying to get them on a path of actually following your rules. And yes, y’all, you can do that. Clients actually appreciate this when done in a nice way, especially when you can spell out, here’s why I’m doing this. Here’s how this will help me show up better for you. Here’s how this will get you the results you’re really wanting.

So that’s number one, you want to make sure this is more about them than you. And when I say them, it doesn’t make them a bad person. It really just means it’s not a good fit for you. From an individual client perspective, maybe your values really clash. Maybe they just don’t have the same needs and don’t understand yours and just can’t understand why or how to follow those boundaries. Well, that’s okay. There are lawyers out there who are fine with it, but you’re not. And you know you’re not. And you’re at your wit’s end because you’ve become super bitter and super resentful of the client themselves.

And you know this because you see the phone ringing and you don’t even want to answer it. You see an email coming in from that person and your heart starts to beat fast and you feel anxiety in the pit of your stomach.

You hang up with them and you are super angry and getting a horrible headache because of how upset you are. Again, for them not following what you’ve told them already.

So if you are in that space, it is time to let go.

Reason #3: Client Doesn’t Listen

[00:13:03] Sign number three that it’s time to let go of a client as an effective client management strategy is: they don’t even listen to your advice, so it gives you anxiety all the time because you worry about:

• Where is this going to lead?
• What trouble are they going to get into next?
• Why won’t they ever listen to the advice I’m giving them?
• How might this impact me?
• Are they going to be the type of client that comes back and claims, I didn’t tell them enough, I didn’t try hard enough and try to push it back on me?

[00:13:40] Now, we all have clients who don’t take our advice. I’m not talking about just that. I’m talking about the ones that just never listen, like to make excuses and go off about their merry way and do things that you know are going to get them in trouble, and you’re anxious over it. When you have anxiety, when you have panic attacks, when you’re always worried about, ugh, what’s going to happen next? What am I going to find out next? What have they not done? What have they not followed? Is this going to come back on me? That type of language? It is not worth it, y’all.

And sometimes we do not know. In fact, we often don’t know this is the kind of person this is or the client this is until we’ve had them. Until we’ve had them for some time as well. So this type of stuff is likely going to happen at some point because you cannot always guard against these red flags from the beginning. You might think you have a great client, you might go through a couple of things and you think they’re even following your advice. And then a year or two later, you find out they really didn’t, and they haven’t been.

[00:14:44] So that is sign number three, that it is time to let go of the client.

Reason #4: Not Aligned To Your Values

Sign number four.

[00:14:53] They’re just plain difficult, and they clearly don’t fit with your values or your personality.

[00:15:00] So these are usually people that we’ve kind of identified. These are difficult people. And there’s not a great fit for me, but I’ll take them anyway because. And there’s usually because of the money, because I don’t have a big enough book yet. Because. Because. Because… Right?

When we realize that’s who they are, just note that these are the people who become that sign number two. These are the people that you will, before you know it, become bitter and/or resentful of.

[00:15:32] You don’t have to get to that bitterness and resentful stage. You can identify who these people are ahead of time. And so, if you are looking at your clients and going, yeah, I got one that’s there, and I could see how that’s gonna lead there eventually.

[00:15:46] It’s not worth it.

[00:15:49] It’s better to let go of them now, because I will tell you that when you get to that bitter and or resentful stage, oftentimes the client can kind of tell you’re not doing your best work, you’re not prioritizing their stuff. And it leads to potential bad blood when you let them go.

So I had a client once who, you know, I did. I think I did two deals for.

They were a newish client. They came in through another partner. So I felt kind of obligated to take them on.

It was clear from the beginning that our personalities didn’t completely jive. And it wasn’t terrible, but it was just a little off, a little different. And our value. And I think it was because our values were very different. Family is a huge value of mine. This clearly was not a value of the other person.

And they wanted you to be available whenever they wanted it. So I put up with it through two deals. And then I started to think, you know, I’m not sure I really want to keep this client, because if I do keep them, it’s going to cause problems later on. It’s going to cause problems for me, it’s going to cause problems for my team. It’s potentially going to get toxic if I’m not careful, because this is not the type of, you know, person I really like working with in the long run.

[00:17:06] And interestingly enough, around the time that I was going through this process and I was back and forth, because there were also reasons to keep. It was lucrative work. It was on behalf of, you know, work that came in through another partner in my firm who I really liked and wanted to help out. So there were competing interests there. And there was a little bit of me saying, you know, I probably could stand this because I don’t think there’s going to be that much work long term.

So I had competing interests there. But then I got lucky, y’all. The client called me and left a message – and expletive ladened message. Turns out he called the wrong person. He thought he was calling somebody else with the same name. But it showcased very clearly why we really weren’t a good personality fit. Because I would never treat somebody like that. And I don’t put up with that kind of language or screaming at people.

And that actually was the thing that decided, you know what? This is better if we just part ways now. And so we both agreed to. And we both agreed to in a manner that made some sense.

Now, I could have said, no, no, no, don’t worry about it. You’re totally okay. It’s not a big deal. And continued on.

Had I done that, I’m certain within a year or two, they would have ended up in that bitter and or resentful box. And I don’t think a parting of ways would have been as easy or simple.

So if you know they’re just a plain difficult client because they are not a good fit for you, for your values, for your personality, let go of them. Once you realize that, let go of them.

Reason #5: Emergency Creators (and Fibbers)

[00:18:46] All right, Sign number five that it is time to use letting go of a client as your client management strategy is:

They are emergency creators or even fibbers.

So I call emergency fibbers those people that claim it’s an emergency. Everything’s always an emergency. You gotta drop everything. You must do this now, now, now, now, now, now. Or the timeline fibbers who must have this in two days. When you find out later they really didn’t need it that quickly.

Those people also often lead to those bitter and or resentful folks.

Even though they pay well, even though they love your work, they’re not valuing you fully. And over time this leads to real resentment because it’s clear they’re not valuing you.

Now again, this is one of those areas where if you haven’t had a conversation with them and you haven’t set some standards and boundaries with them, that is probably your first step. But once you do that, if they refuse to follow it, then it’s time to let them go.

Let me just note that this applies in spades to external clients, but it also applies to internal clients, I. E. Lawyers in other sections who maybe like to come to you for what you do and their clients as well.

[00:20:12] That is hard, y’all. Yes, it’s very hard. And sometimes you have to make a decision based on your current level, based on how much work it really is. Maybe it makes sense because it’s a one off deal every, every year or two and you can put up with it for that, but if you would, you couldn’t do more when it comes to those internal quote unquote clients.

What I would say is a good way to manage this, if you can’t have that honest conversation, is to just be, get busy on other people’s work so that slowly but surely you can let go of more and more of it and just not be available. That has been one of the most effective strategies I’ve frankly had to use in that situation, because I understand the politics of it. But please do not convince yourself that because it’s an internal, somebody else’s client, right, that you are forced to do it no matter what, because you’re not.

At the end of the day, this is your practice. This is about your long-term sustainability within this profession.

[00:21:18] If you’re going to be sustainable in the long term. You need to be able to show up as your best. You need to be able to enjoy the work that you’re doing. And if you can’t, you must find a way to let them go.

All right, before I let you go, I have a quick request to make. If you are enjoying this podcast and have been a listener for a time and have not yet given me a review and listen on Apple Podcasts, I ask that you please go give me a rating and a review. They tell me these things help. I’m really trying to grow this podcast over the course of the next year and that review and rating would help me with that goal.

That’s it for this week. Bye for now.