All About the Client Intake Process in Personal Injury Law with Sugeidy Jaime — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02Hi, this is Bob Simon with the Justice
2. 0:04Team Network. I'm shouting out today
3. 0:06Call Rail. We attach Call Rail to all of
4. 0:08our calls. We make sure they're all
5. 0:10recorded and transcribed. And the we
6. 0:12reason we do that is we put intelligence
7. 0:14on top of those calls to make sure not
8. 0:16only that our intake and our people are
9. 0:17saying the right things, but we want to
10. 0:19make sure that every single customer
11. 0:20that comes to our door, if it's not a
12. 0:22fit for us, it might be a fit for
13. 0:24somebody else. And building that
14. 0:25intelligence into our intake calls
15. 0:27allows us to refer co-consel with
16. 0:29another firm across all practice areas
17. 0:31across the United States using
18. 0:33callrail.com. Just use code JTN for a
19. 0:37free 30-day trial.
20. 0:41Hi and welcome to the Justice Team
21. 0:43Network. We are the Justice Team podcast
22. 0:46and this week I have an incredible
23. 0:48guest. If you could introduce yourself.
24. 0:50Hi guys, my name is Sui. I'm part of the
25. 0:52intake team and office manager team here
26. 0:56in Simagre.
27. 0:57>> Yeah, she is incredible. And today I
28. 1:00kind of just want to pick her brain
29. 1:02because I think the world could do to
30. 1:05learn some of her knowledge. Um,
31. 1:06especially because I mean we have an
32. 1:09intake influx I feel like daily and you
33. 1:11are just on top of it and you know how
34. 1:13to direct everything and I feel like I
35. 1:15just want to pick your brain on like the
36. 1:16green flags and red flags and the you
37. 1:19know points that are strong versus okay
38. 1:21we might not be the best fit for this
39. 1:22and so kind of to dissect that a little
40. 1:25bit. Can you just kind of go over the
41. 1:27general intake process of of um how we
42. 1:31do that from like start to finish and
43. 1:33then we'll kind of parse it out from
44. 1:34there. Uh, well, everything starts
45. 1:36within the intake process. Um, we're
46. 1:39pretty much the first person that the
47. 1:41client reach outs to. So, it's always
48. 1:43like um getting in the call and making
49. 1:46sure that the client is comfortable
50. 1:48enough to disclose, you know, what
51. 1:50they're going through and in a very
52. 1:53tough time. So, it goes from vetting the
53. 1:56the client um and then, you know,
54. 1:59sending it to the supervising attorney
55. 2:00and making sure that we get all the
56. 2:02details, photographs, and everything
57. 2:03like that. Yeah. And so something that
58. 2:06you said in that was making them feel
59. 2:08comfortable.
60. 2:09>> And I think that that's something that a
61. 2:10lot of the time we forget to do is that,
62. 2:13you know, they might be calling us, but
63. 2:15also like they're having to open up
64. 2:17about something that was traumatic.
65. 2:18>> Regardless of whether it was a car crash
66. 2:20or a sexual assault or whatever they
67. 2:22went through, it was a traumatic
68. 2:23experience. And this also might be their
69. 2:26very first like introduction into what
70. 2:27the legal world is like. So, what are
71. 2:30some things that you do to ensure that
72. 2:33they do feel safe and comfortable
73. 2:34opening up?
74. 2:35>> Well, active listening definitely is
75. 2:37like the main thing. Um, making sure
76. 2:39that you know they're a we're able to
77. 2:42hear them out, especially because they
78. 2:44are going through something like
79. 2:46painful, traumatic in any like aspect of
80. 2:49their potential case and being able to
81. 2:52grab all those details while also being
82. 2:54active in active listening.
83. 2:56>> Yes. which I feel like sounds so small,
84. 2:58but it's so important, especially
85. 3:00because I feel like in the intake
86. 3:01process, um, you have a list of
87. 3:04questions you're going to ask, right?
88. 3:05Like these are things that I need to
89. 3:06know in order to know if this is viable
90. 3:08or if we're the right fit for this
91. 3:09person. And so it's hard to not just
92. 3:11like look at it as a checklist, like
93. 3:13okay, like next question. But it's one
94. 3:15thing to just sit there and actually
95. 3:16like intake what they're saying.
96. 3:19>> And so what do you do sometimes? Because
97. 3:21I know like a lot of the time in the
98. 3:23intake process, someone might call in
99. 3:25and they think every detail they're
100. 3:26telling you is important, but it it
101. 3:28might not be, you know, it might be
102. 3:30something where it's like, okay, that's
103. 3:31a conversation you can have like later
104. 3:32on. I need to get this information. How
105. 3:34do you balance the making sure they feel
106. 3:36heard and also making sure you get the
107. 3:39information you need to get without
108. 3:40being on the phone for like 3 hours?
109. 3:42>> Yes. Well, definitely be very like
110. 3:44understanding like I understand your
111. 3:46frustration. Oh, like I definitely
112. 3:49understand what you're going through and
113. 3:50like making sure like that I'm
114. 3:53understanding them, but I'm also getting
115. 3:55the proper details that we need to focus
116. 3:58on in order for it to be like a case
117. 4:00that we can definitely come in.
118. 4:01>> Yeah.
119. 4:02>> Yeah.
120. 4:02>> I think that's huge. And like I get to I
121. 4:04mean I have like the privilege of
122. 4:05getting some of the cases that you do
123. 4:07the intake on and like you do do an
124. 4:08incredible job of getting that that out
125. 4:11and also I think just like the the
126. 4:14validation that you're giving of like I
127. 4:15hear you. I understand that that is
128. 4:17frustrating and I understand that that
129. 4:19would hurt. I think it's huge because
130. 4:20sometimes we just want to be like
131. 4:22validated that we're not crazy. You
132. 4:24[laughter] know what I mean?
133. 4:25>> We're in therapy here.
134. 4:27>> Yeah. Literally.
135. 4:28>> So, what are some of the things like
136. 4:30when someone's talking, are you ever
137. 4:32like red flag or like okay, what are
138. 4:35some of the the definitely like I don't
139. 4:37think we're going to be the right fit
140. 4:38for this person red flags. So, it's
141. 4:40definitely the demeanor, you know, when
142. 4:41they're very needy or when they're like,
143. 4:44"Oh, what what's the value of my case?"
144. 4:46And it's like, "Oh, well, you know,
145. 4:48[laughter] uh, we have to go through
146. 4:49treatment."
147. 4:50>> You're like, "Hi, nice to meet you.
148. 4:52[laughter]
149. 4:53>> Hi, nice to meet you. I don't have a
150. 4:54percentage yet cuz we have to work you
151. 4:56up, but
152. 4:57>> [laughter]
153. 4:57>> um, let me know." Uh what was the date
154. 4:59of loss
155. 5:00>> literally
156. 5:01>> you know you know like those persons and
157. 5:03then the gap of treatment is always you
158. 5:06know something that we look into the
159. 5:08date of loss and how far they have come
160. 5:11without an attorney as well
161. 5:13>> and pretty much yes when they request
162. 5:15like you know the like how much is my
163. 5:18case worth and on intake and it's like
164. 5:22>> I don't [laughter] know yet like that
165. 5:25depends
166. 5:27no I think That's I think that's
167. 5:28something that's important to kind of
168. 5:30look at too because motive is huge and I
169. 5:33think a big part of what we do is like
170. 5:34wanting to believe in what we do and who
171. 5:37we are fighting for and I think that
172. 5:38sometimes that can get lost.
173. 5:40>> Yes. And it's always about helping them,
174. 5:42you know, and it's always about helping
175. 5:44the client and assisting them in any any
176. 5:46way possible. But,
177. 5:47>> you know, there are some red flags that
178. 5:49we look into just because as I mentioned
179. 5:51to you, like it all depends on the
180. 5:53person's demeanor because then that will
181. 5:55tell us how it will look at court and
182. 5:57you know,
183. 5:58>> yeah.
184. 5:58>> Yes.
185. 5:59>> That's a lot of fast forwarding, you
186. 6:01know, where it's like, okay, let me just
187. 6:02like read the future a little bit. I'm
188. 6:04picturing you in a [laughter] courtroom
189. 6:05and if you're talking to me like this, I
190. 6:06can already. Also, I think there's like
191. 6:08a certain level of respect that we
192. 6:10should just treat each human being with.
193. 6:13And so, it's like, well, this is our
194. 6:14first interaction and you're already
195. 6:17>> not being very kind. Like, that's not a
196. 6:19great sign, [laughter]
197. 6:20>> you know?
198. 6:20>> I agree.
199. 6:21>> Um, okay. So, we've talked about some of
200. 6:23the red flags. What are some of the
201. 6:24green flags like that? What are some
202. 6:26things where you're like, "Okay, yeah,
203. 6:27this is good. This is checking out."
204. 6:30>> Um, for me, it is when the client is
205. 6:33very open to treatment. um seeing our
206. 6:35doctors um when they're very open with
207. 6:38their um potential case and giving
208. 6:41details and like they're they're like
209. 6:44seeing the good and the bad within the
210. 6:45case. So then that helps me like see
211. 6:47more of like okay this is a this is a
212. 6:50good client. This is someone that I can
213. 6:51talk to reasonably.
214. 6:53>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [laughter]
215. 6:55>> The little things.
216. 6:56>> Yeah. No, I think that's good too is
217. 6:58like when you can get that kind of
218. 6:59cander too in the beginning. Um because
219. 7:01I think sometimes that can be difficult
220. 7:03in the intake process when you feel like
221. 7:05someone is specifically curating the way
222. 7:07that they're saying something to you.
223. 7:09And it's like, you know, we're human
224. 7:10beings who exist in the world. We are
225. 7:13likely going to have had some kind of
226. 7:14injury in our life or lower back pain
227. 7:17because we're sedentary and we're
228. 7:18sitting all day long. You know, like
229. 7:20that's okay. Like you're allowed to come
230. 7:22>> you're allowed to have lived life before
231. 7:24you were involved in an incident. And so
232. 7:26I think sometimes when they're more
233. 7:28forthcoming with that too or when
234. 7:30they're like yeah I have been injured
235. 7:31with this but this is why this is
236. 7:33different like when you already can kind
237. 7:34of feel like okay they're being honest
238. 7:36with me. I think that's huge too
239. 7:38>> especially on those egg show cases we do
240. 7:40want to know the prior treatment and
241. 7:42like what happened there and
242. 7:44>> you know stuff like that. Just being
243. 7:45honest the client being honest to us and
244. 7:48then that makes us our life a lot easier
245. 7:50with when it comes to intake.
246. 7:52>> Yes definitely.
247. 7:56This is Bob Simon, the co-founder of
248. 7:58Attorney Share. As a law firm owner, we
249. 8:00use it to track all of the cases that we
250. 8:02have coming in. It automatically updates
251. 8:03our referral partners and also gives us
252. 8:05new opportunities for cases that we
253. 8:07would like to work on. Get your free
254. 8:08account on attorneyshare.com today.
255. 8:14When you are kind of training your team
256. 8:16to be doing the intake process, what are
257. 8:18some of the things that you're like,
258. 8:20"Okay, we need to make sure we're doing
259. 8:21X, Y, and Z. we need to make sure we
260. 8:23don't do ABC. I didn't know what letters
261. 8:26[laughter] I had to use, but like what
262. 8:28are some of the things that you like to
263. 8:30train your staff on?
264. 8:32>> Pretty much um what I like them to feel
265. 8:35comfortable on the phone with the
266. 8:37client. You're here to ask questions.
267. 8:39There are some, you know, questions on
268. 8:42that vetting that you do have to cross,
269. 8:44which is treatment, insurance, um
270. 8:47>> and witness and stuff like that. So, I'm
271. 8:49like just be an active listener. notate
272. 8:51what it's what's important and um you
273. 8:54know give a brief description of how you
274. 8:56felt the client was and then you know
275. 8:58just following up with the client
276. 9:00because we do take that call in but we
277. 9:02also follow up with the client and like
278. 9:04hey like giving them like what we got in
279. 9:07response or like you know
280. 9:09>> yeah I definitely want to ask about the
281. 9:11followup because I think that there's
282. 9:13like a fine line between looking like um
283. 9:15like hello hello hello have you are you
284. 9:17doing anything and also being like hey I
285. 9:18just want to check in like how are you
286. 9:20feeling is this something you still want
287. 9:21to pursue. Um, how do you balance that
288. 9:24follow-up process and and the line
289. 9:26between those two kind of ways it could
290. 9:28look?
291. 9:28>> My team is very like fast. We're always
292. 9:31moving at a fast pace and um making sure
293. 9:34we call the client back and tell them,
294. 9:36hey, you know what, like we're not able
295. 9:37to take the case, but we're here to
296. 9:39assist you with, you know, looking for a
297. 9:41potential attorney that can take it. And
298. 9:44that I think brings in work when it
299. 9:46comes like the confidence from the
300. 9:49client with our firm and like okay
301. 9:52they're at least trying to help me and
302. 9:54that a lot you know that's like brings a
303. 9:57lot of gratitude to my team.
304. 9:59>> Good. Yeah. I think that's important too
305. 10:01because it's not just like sorry good
306. 10:03luck you know [laughter] it's like you
307. 10:05know we might not be the right fit for
308. 10:07you but that doesn't mean that you don't
309. 10:08deserve justice. That doesn't mean that
310. 10:09you weren't wronged. And so I think the
311. 10:12way that you do that is really important
312. 10:14too. Um because even if you're not
313. 10:16taking on a client doesn't mean that
314. 10:18they like are less deserving of, you
315. 10:20know, having their case brought. Um so I
316. 10:24think that you guys do a really good job
317. 10:25of that. You guys just do a great job of
318. 10:27following up in general. Sometimes
319. 10:28you'll send me like an intake to do and
320. 10:30I and then I am like [laughter] okay all
321. 10:32the just life keeps happening and it's
322. 10:33like hey just following up and it's like
323. 10:34so kind. It's like it's like a yes yes.
324. 10:37I love getting like bump emails. I'm
325. 10:38like thank you so much. like I will put
326. 10:40this at the top of my to-do list again.
327. 10:42Um but I think you guys do a great job
328. 10:45of that. Like how do you ensure that you
329. 10:47are following up? Like do you have a
330. 10:48system of like you know calendar
331. 10:51reminders like okay if we haven't heard
332. 10:52in two days let's do this or is it kind
333. 10:54of just like we have a list of things to
334. 10:56follow up by the end of the week and
335. 10:58this is how we do it. Yes. Um we have we
336. 11:02keep our attempts you know in a list and
337. 11:05we have you know potential cases that we
338. 11:08want and we want to follow up with the
339. 11:09attorneys like hey you know are we
340. 11:11taking [laughter] it or not you know
341. 11:13>> just so yeah we do we do a lot of
342. 11:15followup um we try to make sure that the
343. 11:18client isn't like on hold for a long
344. 11:21time just because they have the the
345. 11:23urgency of finding an attorney
346. 11:25>> and yeah pretty much
347. 11:27>> yeah definitely and a lot of the time
348. 11:30you aren't the only office they're
349. 11:32calling. And so you also want to make
350. 11:33sure that you are doing right by them
351. 11:35and also allowing them to make the most
352. 11:38informed decision for them too.
353. 11:40>> Yes.
354. 11:40>> Um and I think that that's like an
355. 11:41important thing is making sure that um
356. 11:44they know that their case matters.
357. 11:46>> Yes. Of course. And like you know us
358. 11:48properly evaluating the case and sending
359. 11:50it to the supervising attorney or
360. 11:52supervisors like that just you know like
361. 11:55it's not like just being given and read
362. 11:57to. you know, we're definitely looking
363. 11:59into it and we're dissecting as much as
364. 12:01we can if we do have questions.
365. 12:04>> We'll definitely reach back out, but you
366. 12:06know, just know that like it's in good
367. 12:08hands. We we're we're crossing our exes
368. 12:10here. [laughter]
369. 12:11>> Yeah. Which is important. And I think
370. 12:13also it's hard when like I think what
371. 12:16you do a really good job of is
372. 12:18explaining the process. And so you might
373. 12:21not see what's happening behind the
374. 12:22scenes, but like things are happening.
375. 12:24And I think you do a good job of being
376. 12:25like, "Okay, you might not hear from us
377. 12:27in a couple of days, but that's because
378. 12:29it is crossing this person's eyes. It's
379. 12:31going to go on this desk." Like,
380. 12:33everyone is looking at it and things are
381. 12:34happening. You just might not hear from
382. 12:36us in a couple of days while that's
383. 12:37happening, but it's not because we're
384. 12:38ignoring you. It's just because there's
385. 12:39a process. [laughter]
386. 12:40>> Yes.
387. 12:41>> And I think that that helps too in just
388. 12:43managing expectations
389. 12:45>> because I think that that's huge. Like
390. 12:46that's a conversation I have with my
391. 12:47clients at the very beginning is like,
392. 12:49what do you expect from an attorney? How
393. 12:51much contact do you expect? How much
394. 12:52communication do you expect? and let me
395. 12:54see if that's something I I can meet or
396. 12:56if I need to temper the expectations a
397. 12:57little bit, you know.
398. 12:58>> Yeah. [laughter] And our attorneys are
399. 13:00human beings too, you know. They have
400. 13:01emergencies and you know, it's like we
401. 13:05are also human [laughter]
402. 13:07>> importantly. So, you know, I think that
403. 13:09makes us better advocates is like we all
404. 13:11have like life experiences and yes, this
405. 13:13is our profession and also sometimes you
406. 13:15just want that like human connection of
407. 13:17just like the validation that like yes,
408. 13:19you deserve justice and this should not
409. 13:21have happened and I am sorry that it
410. 13:22did. Let's see what we can do to help.
411. 13:24>> Of course, it's always about healthy.
412. 13:26>> Yes. Yeah. Um, is there anything else in
413. 13:29the intake process that you think is
414. 13:30like undervalued that should be talked
415. 13:32about more? Is there anything that you
416. 13:33feel like you implement that other law
417. 13:36firms would, you know, benefit from also
418. 13:38trying to kind of do for their their
419. 13:41offices? [laughter] You're like, I don't
420. 13:42know. It's just what we do.
421. 13:46>> How do I feel like I've talked about it?
422. 13:47[laughter]
423. 13:48>> Can you repeat everything you said,
424. 13:49please? Yeah, literally.
425. 13:52>> No,
426. 13:53>> I think like what you do just works so
427. 13:55well where it almost feels intuitive,
428. 13:57you know, where it just kind of is like
429. 13:58why would we not do it this way?
430. 14:00>> Oh, you know what? I think I do have one
431. 14:02and it is um pretty much what I love
432. 14:05about us is like you guys are so willing
433. 14:09to teach us,
434. 14:11>> you know, like what to look at, what is
435. 14:13important and stuff like that. So then
436. 14:15it it clicks us right away when we're on
437. 14:17that intake call and that you guys are
438. 14:20like so willing and gave us like leaders
439. 14:23to like teach us what to look into into
440. 14:26a call into a client into an accident
441. 14:28into any type of case and that knowledge
442. 14:31that you guys transferred to us has
443. 14:33helped us a lot in the intake
444. 14:34department. So yeah and then that you
445. 14:37guys hear our thoughts we also give you
446. 14:39guys feedback like I don't know about
447. 14:41this one. Oh yeah. Well, because I think
448. 14:42the way that someone treats a human
449. 14:44being says a lot, you know, and so I
450. 14:47have always appreciated that in you is
451. 14:49like, hey, these are the vibes I am
452. 14:50getting like, [laughter] you know, just
453. 14:52just know this. Um, which is nice and I
454. 14:55think that what you're saying is
455. 14:56something I love about here so much is
456. 14:57like the explaining of the why. Yes. you
457. 14:59know, cuz it's one thing to be asked to
458. 15:01do something, but it's another to be
459. 15:03like this is what we're looking for and
460. 15:04this is why like if we see this that
461. 15:06typically means this, you know, so like
462. 15:08knowing the the followup and and where
463. 15:10to kind of go with that conversation and
464. 15:12and the why behind it is huge.
465. 15:14>> Yes. And especially you guys helping us
466. 15:17you know like think outside the box
467. 15:18instead of just like taking details and
468. 15:21stuff like that and then like let's say
469. 15:23a issue presents then we're like okay
470. 15:25we've
471. 15:26>> it's not like the all cases fit the same
472. 15:30criteria but it's like okay well now I
473. 15:32know what to ask because of previous
474. 15:34experience but yeah you know get all the
475. 15:37information that we can and you guys are
476. 15:39really very very good at you knowing us.
477. 15:41So
478. 15:42>> yeah we I mean we have a great team. I
479. 15:43think we all have like such an important
480. 15:45role to play and we do it and respect
481. 15:47each other in the process and that's
482. 15:49[laughter]
483. 15:50>> not as hard as people make it seem like
484. 15:52it is, you know.
485. 15:54>> Yes, I agree.
486. 15:55>> I just I cannot thank you enough for
487. 15:57sitting and doing this podcast with me
488. 15:59and for imparting your wisdom on
489. 16:01everyone who is listening.
490. 16:02>> Yes, thank [laughter] you.
491. 16:04>> Of course. And thank you for listening.
492. 16:05And we will see you next time.
493. 16:07>> You
494. 16:10so good. Oh my gosh.
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