Monday, November 10, 2008

The Internet, Clients and My Law Office

This recent report caught my eye:

A report, released in August, says 40% of people 50 to 64 years old and 27% of adults 65 and older are getting information online every day, compared to about 55% of those 18 to 49. The study surveyed 2,251 adults 18 and older from April 8 to May 11 of this year. Source here.

Does your law office make an extra effort to gather your clients' emails? We have done so, aggressively, this year. The result? I am now seeing a decrease in postage and copy costs. I filed a lawsuit for a client, and when we received a "Notice of Removal" on the matter, simply emailed it to her. No need to copy and send 125 pages. We explained it in detail in an email PDF letter, asked her to call, and spoke at length. In that one case, we probably saved the client $20 just on one mailing. Now, multiply that over a typical caseload, and you have substantial (to me) savings to the client.

I've sent settlement papers, updates and other papers to client over the age of 65. All appreciate the ease of email. Informally, nearly 2/3rds of our clients over the age of 50 in our office now have and use email.

Are you doing all you can to gather your client's emails?