Why Lawyers Need to Follow Up With Clients

The Modern Law Firm series delves into how AI can streamline your law firm — whether it’s by saving you time and money, eliminating mistakes and redundancies or making your workflow more efficient. 

Imagine a client is increasingly short with you when they reach out to you—but you’re not sure why they’re upset.

Turns out you said you would reach out to them with more information. Instead, they are the ones who have initiated conversations with you. They feel ignored and as though their case is not a priority for you. 

Failing to follow up with clients can affect your relationship and future business. Learn why it’s important and how you can get better at it.

Why Following Up Is Important for Lawyers

Following up can seem inconvenient when juggling several deadlines, but it makes a difference. It can: 

Strengthen Your Relationship With Your Clients

Giving clients regular updates means you communicate with them repeatedly, which shows them that you’re making progress on their case and that you care about the results. If you also have clients who are a little more anxious, you can help ease their fears. 

Keep You More Organized

Looking into cases more frequently also means you are less likely to miss important deadlines. This can help keep you organized, which is paramount for lawyers. 

Be a Selling Point

Not only might clients refer you to other clients, but you can also use the fact that you follow up as a marketing selling point. It shows other possible clients the care you take in your work. 

Why It Can Be Hard to Follow Up

Aside from the busy schedules of legal teams, communication methods can impact law firms when it comes to following up. According to the American Bar Association’s 2023 Legal Technology Survey, only 21% of firms offered case updates through an online portal or their websites. This means they might use another more manual method, which can use up invaluable time.

One option is to use a platform like Noodle, which automatically follows up with clients, so anytime you need information for them or there’s an update on their case, they will receive a notification letting them know. 

4 Tips to Perfect the Art of Following Up 

If you’re hoping to get better at following up, here are a few things you can do:

Communicate Expectations

One issue for clients might be that they don’t know when to expect an update. This can make them frustrated if it doesn’t happen as quickly as they think it should. However, if you let them know that you will reach out once a month with updates, then they know if they haven’t heard from you in a week and a half, it’s normal.

Giving yourself a specific timeframe also means you’re not putting pressure on yourself to give updates every week.

Keep Promises

If you make a promise to a client, make sure you honor it. Not following up when you say you will can cause distrust. 

Set Reminders

Have you ever told yourself you didn’t need to write something down because you’d surely remember it when the time came? If you’re manually providing updates, set reminders so you can’t forget it. There’s no need to wake up in a panic at midnight because you realize you forgot to get back to someone. 

Automate It

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to automate this process. A platform like Noodle can provide more consistent reminders than you’re probably capable of. 

You can even add a human touch and occasionally write updates to clients. For example, if your AI tool prompts a client to turn in a form, you can write them a note letting them know that this is one of the last steps in putting together their case. 

What to Do When There Are No Updates

Cases can sometimes move slowly, and that means you likely won’t have some updates in some weeks or months. To ensure clients don’t see this as a bad sign, you should be upfront with them. Let them know ahead of time that they likely won’t receive updates for a few weeks. You can also check in on them at those moments and let them know there are still no updates.

Being kept in the loop—even when there isn’t much to say—can still give your client reassurance.