Passing the Bar, But Failing at Courtesy: Not Returning Phone Calls Is a Good Way to Run Afoul of Your State Bar
Ignoring calls and messages isn't just the leading cause of disciplinary complaints against attorneys — it reflects a troubling lack of professional responsibility and empathy.
In all states, the most common complaint filed with state bar associations by clients is that the attorney failed to return phone calls in a timely manner, or not at all.
According to data from the American Bar Association (ABA), a lack of communication and client neglect consistently rank as the most common complaints filed against attorneys nationwide. There is a direct and strong correlation between lawyers who fail to return phone calls, state bar discipline and legal malpractice.
But not only are clients being ghosted, but lawyers often ignore other attorneys, sometimes under circumstances where you might conclude the attorney has a character defect leading to irresponsibility and, at times, is using calculated behavior to play dirty, especially during hotly contested litigation.
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Let me share with you concerns I have about "Diane," an attorney whom I helped pass the California Bar Exam last year after she failed it multiple times and who may be headed for trouble.
A troubling trend
Over the years, I have worked with several law graduates — often the children of clients — who failed the bar repeatedly. They lacked good writing skills, a testament to our education system, which decades ago quit requiring weekly essays in many high schools. Once they learned how to analyze a bar exam question and write an answer in a coherent manner, they passed.
Diane was consistent when it came to confirming an appointment or showing up for lunch and a tutoring session. Often, neither texts nor emails would confirm the appointment. The courtesy of not standing me up was a foreign concept in her psyche.
Days later, she would text, "Sorry, I got so busy that I just forgot."
So, she gets sworn in, is hired by a firm and is working in an area of the law I am writing about. I wanted to see if anything had changed. Did becoming a lawyer impact her sense of responsibility and thinking of others, especially colleagues and clients?
So, I texted and emailed her the factual basis of my question and asked for her input.
Now, as a new attorney, getting your name in a major publication is a feather in your cap and a plus for your employer, so anyone with a full deck would jump at the chance, right? Especially if asked by the person who helped them pass the bar!
Well, not Diane.
It's as if she has "I'm Irresponsible" tattooed on her forehead — really no surprise.
Can you imagine how she will deal with clients who depend on her? Pulling those same stunts — like not showing up in court for a hearing — is an engraved invitation to put her bar license at risk.
Top complaints against lawyers
State bars across the country have a massive amount of data on lawyers who have gotten into serious trouble. In an overwhelming number of instances, complaints about a lack of returned phone calls and "failed to communicate with client" led to worse violations of our legal and ethical duties.
One bar investigator, who asked not to be identified, told me, "It took them years of study and hard work to become an attorney, but they are passive-aggressive with clients. Their message is, 'I'll get back to you when and if I want to.'"
He added, "With the enormous amount of lawyer advertising, when phone calls from potential clients are not returned in a timely manner, we have seen instances of the statute of limitations (to file lawsuits) being blown.
"Even when we warn them to knock it off, their irresponsible behavior continues right to the point where they face suspension, or worse."
Failing to return a phone call to a client is one thing, but there is another closely related issue.
The Dalai Lama: 'Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.'
Passing a state's bar exam and being sworn in as an attorney is a license to become quite wealthy. To me, while you will never find anything in our rules of professional responsibility and legal ethics that requires giving a fraction of your time to someone who phones your office at one of the lowest points in their lives — needing someone who will listen — that act of kindness should be obvious and thought of as obligatory. If not from you, the lawyer, then from a member of your staff.
I receive many calls from people who find one of my columns that relates to their situation, call attorneys, share the specifics with a receptionist and are promised a return call that never comes. Perhaps it is not a matter the firm handles, but at least call them back and say so!
A woman who resides in Houston called our office in August. Her 78-year-old husband died in the hospital two years ago in October, so the statute of limitations on malpractice is running.
As she related his many health conditions, the finding of "natural causes" seemed supported. At such moments with a terminally ill patient, family is distraught, and in their minds, hospital personnel might seem less than kind.
I listened as "Chelsea" told me about their marriage: "He was 35 years older than me when we were married 30 years ago. He was my world, a man of integrity, and they treated him so badly."
I explained that a malpractice case is complicated and usually difficult to prove.
We spoke for about five minutes before I asked her, "How many lawyers have you discussed this with?"
"None," she replied. "I left messages, was promised a return call, but you are the first."
It took only five minutes. That's an invisible amount of time in reality, but too much for all the law firms she reached out to.
"Please keep my number," I said. "And if anything positive comes out of all of this, call me. Your husband was one of the luckiest men on the planet."
"And I was one of the luckiest wives, as well, Mr. Beaver. God bless you for taking the time to talk with me," she said, her tears audible.
Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield, Calif., and welcomes comments and questions from readers, which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993, or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1@gmail.com. And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com.
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