What action can an attorney take for a family that constantly calls for a client that’s in jail? And demands weekend and after hour availability?

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I’m assuming you’re stuck with a retainer agreement that doesn’t provide for this situation, either hourly charges, extra fees for evening/weekend time, or a refusal to work on the weekend. Definitely add something to your agreement for future clients to adjust expectations.

You have to tell them how they need to communicate with you, and stick by it calmly and professionally. If it’s multiple family members, tell them they have to pick one representative. Tell them you’re not answering questions or speaking with anybody but that one person. Your job is to represent the client, you’re under no obligation to take their calls, but you do as a service to the client. Their calls are taking time away from the actual legal work you’re doing.

You can also set time boundaries for when they can follow up. Tell them to call on X date for an update. Or, set up a meeting where they can ask all the questions and share all the thoughts and ideas. When I was in private practice, that made people feel heard and gave them an expectation of when they could have your attention again. Tell them that they need to make an appointment with a doctor, so they need to make an appointment with you too.

Another good one is, “do you think my answer will change if you ask/call me again?” Or “what do you think calling me again is going to accomplish?” Of course, with a calm and kind tone. They’ll either realize how silly they’re being, or they’ll have real questions/objections that you can respond to. Don’t be afraid to say “as I told you earlier.”

If they’re truly unreasonable and uncontrollable, then these boundaries and directions will make them push their loved one to find another lawyer. Which is okay because they evidently weren’t paying you enough for what they wanted. But when I set boundaries like this in 10 years of private practice, it often had the intended effect of getting everybody to have appropriate expectations.

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Charge hourly.

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