Cold calling

13 Oct 2013Feature

Legal professionals don't like to think of their work as sales, but they can't afford to let too many clients 'cool off' either, says Sofia Tayton

In the current climate, billing and cash collection is key, the client is the boss, consumer protection is paramount and no one has time to pretend otherwise.

For private client practitioners, and particularly those of us who help elderly and vulnerable clients, regulations that go with all this can cause difficulties.

For example, take a new client of mine. Mrs W has cancer and wanted a home visit to sort out a simple will. The fee level was discussed over the phone, she was happy, so off I went. I was armed with my terms and conditions letter and cancellation notice, the ?latter being a requirement of the Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work, ?etc Regulations 2008.

Mrs W was bright, clear in her instructions and generally doing very well for a terminally ill 82-year-old. And I was able to take her will instructions in 15 minutes.

However, her face fell when the notice came out and I launched into my spiel about the regulations. I felt ?for Mrs W when she said: "I wanted a will so that my children know I was thinking of them all at the end. I didn't think there would be so much 'stuff' to get through."

I've run into this before, particularly at care homes and in hospitals, and in cases where you are asked to see someone urgently. The Law Society advises you to treat the regulations as applicable and has a template notice.

When telling a stroke victim about the forms and signatures required for the most basic property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney, having to change the subject, explain the regulations and get them to sign the bit of the notice that says you can start work immediately can be too much.

Unfortunately, as the case of Robertson v Swift [2012] showed us, there is no room to manoeuvre here and every consumer 'at home' has an absolute right to a 'cooling off' period.

None of us wants to waste a home visit on someone who is just shopping around for the best deal, but that is a danger. More than that, we don't want to risk not being able to recover any fees at all.

Regulations: important for any home visit

Think about presentation. Size 12 Arial may be fine for us, but not for the client. Use a larger font, space the paragraphs out and don’t make it look like the archetypal ‘small print’ document.
Consider the terminology. The Law Society’s template gives all of the required information, but it could be personalised.
Ensure that the cancellation form is presented in the same way as the rest of the notice, and attach a postage-paid envelope.
Be clear. There is no shame in telling the client that they will have to pay for the work you do. If they understand this and are happy to do so, they can sign a request for you to start work immediately. Use one that matches the other documents in terms of typeface and terminology.
If the client won’t sign a request for you to start immediately, tell them this means you will begin when the ‘cooling off’ period has passed. If the client is seriously ill and the instruction is for a will, you may have to take a very practical viewpoint: get the will drafted ASAP and accept that sometimes you will feel that your time has been wasted. The regulations are not on our side.
Don’t ignore the regulations and hope that your clients won’t realise they exist/apply to your work. Noncompliance is a criminal offence.

Sofia Tayton is a partner and head of care and capacity at Lodders Solicitors

She writes the regular in-practice article on care and capacity for Private Client Adviser

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