Attorneys from all over the country ask me on a weekly, if not daily basis, “How do you manage to bring in so many new clients”. As a wrongful death & catastrophic injury lawyer, I swim in the depths of the ocean with the biggest sharks. Some will do anything to gain a client….and I mean anything. My approach has always been different. The Anti-Shark if you will. In fact, my approach has been Anti-Ambulance-Chaser and really even Anti-Attorney. My approach with my clients is to talk to them and treat them like they are friends. I give the same advice to my clients that I would give to a friend from childhood. I know this sounds basic, but the reality is, most attorneys don’t get it. Most attorneys treat their clients, at best, like children. The speak down to them. I think they learned this in law school. A quote from the movie, The Rainmaker sums it up pretty well:
“In my first year of law school, everybody loved everybody else. We were studying the law, and the law was a noble thing. By my third year, you were lucky if you weren’t murdered in your sleep. People stole exams, hid research from the library and lied to the professors. Such is the nature of the profession.”
My clients are my friends, not my children. They get treated like a friends get treated. If a friend calls, you call him back. If a friend ask for my honest opinion, I give it to him or her. That is what I have always done….and it works. My math is simple: Client = Friend, Friend = New Referrals, New Referral = Client, Client = Friends…. and the circle of life goes on. We have grown in to California’s Leading Accident Law Firm not only because of our huge verdicts but mainly because we know how to treat people.
“Wait a second,” I’m asked, “You mean to tell me you that you are friends with all of your clients.” Answer, “Yes”. I do not work for people I don’t like. Period. I don’t need to. My office brings in over two hundred cases per year. Do you think I would waste time on the unfriendly. My promise to my clients, if I don’t consider you a friend…..your file will be mailed to you with a “Best of Luck” letter. Thankfully, I’ve never sent one of those out!
Very Best,
Emery Brett Ledger
Attorney At Law
