In almost any job that involves working with clients, you must balance the tasks on your list against the interruptions from those very clients.

Retail is a low-stakes business. While answering customer questions and responding to requests from other departments, you might spend a few minutes setting up an endcap or restocking the shelves. It’s usually easy to manage.

Math is more complex in law offices, particularly in litigation. The client’s interests are much more critical. According to the size of the lawsuit, it could be an individual’s finances or liberties at stake or even the resources of a multi-national corporation with tens of thousands of employees.

This equation is complex, and your firm’s staff is variable. In a single litigation case, there could be multiple lawyers, each with expertise and a fee structure. Clients expect to receive regular updates and to have all their questions answered. This is one factor that can completely alter the client experience.

Problems with reactive client engagement

Anyone who has worked in the legal field for a long time will have seen this. You answer the phone when it rings. Everyone must stop doing what they are doing. Everyone must react to the latest client information request.

It may seem like a good client service if you don’t look at the bigger picture. It isn’t good for business in the long term. Your productivity and morale are affected. The client may want to avoid being called. They would rather have the information on demand.

What if you could deliver greater engagement to your clients without going through a series of endless fire drills? HighQ is a solution for litigators who face such a challenge.

It might be helpful to categorize the information that clients request. To simplify things without oversimplifying, most client requests for information can be divided into business and lawsuit requests.

Business requests, “Where are you with [blank]?”

Imagine a GC whose firm has several active litigations with your firm. This client might call your client relationship partner to get an update about the overall situation.

What is the current situation in terms of budget and actual expenditure?

What are the ratios of partners to associates for our litigation matters portfolio?

Please update me regarding the cases scheduled to be tried this summer.

Please provide me with a high-level overview of the current activities at your firm.

Several people in your company may be required to come up with a single answer. This will interrupt their current activities. It will take some time (often not billable). It will happen again with this client or another.

HighQ allows law firms to avoid such disruptions by creating customized, secure client portals that contain all the information relevant to a particular legal matter. Client portals let customers of all sizes access the exact information they need, at the time they need it, without distracting your legal staff.

The scale doesn’t matter here. The client portal can be designed for a single litigation case or a portfolio of complex legal issues. Search, browsing, filtering, and commenting are features that help make sharing information work. They’re all built into a platform as straightforward to use for clients as an online shopping site.

Litigation requests – “What is happening with my case?”

These questions go into detail about the case. These granular inquiries are no less important because they come from a client who wants to be confident in your work and the outcome of their case.

What is our litigation strategy for a particular issue?

Can you see the schedule of depositions for next month?

Can I view the exhibits that the trial team has prepared for court?

Can you review the draft settlement agreement for me?

These questions have been introduced previously. The client has always been interested in the details. Your law firm’s options have changed. There are options available to streamline communication, ensuring you and your client don’t miss anything.

The bottom line

HighQ prevents firms from being bogged down in endless email and telephone replies. Partners can save time chasing down status updates on the nuts and bolts of client relationships. HighQ provides your clients with this information before they ask for it. This results in an improved experience for both partners and clients.

Each law firm will have a different challenge. Some clients are easier to handle than others. Suppose your firm is committed to client engagement and customer service. In that case, you owe yourself a duty to consider whether there’s a more efficient way to work which will benefit all parties and build successful, long-term relations.