Biglaw, Boutique Law Firms, Partner Issues, Small Law Firms, Technology

Beyond Biglaw: Feedback Culture

Law firms of all sizes tend to sit on the sidelines of our feedback culture; is this a mistake?

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We are living in a feedback culture. Traveled lately? Uber wants to know how your ride to the airport was. Your airline? An emailed survey is waiting for you on arrival at your destination. Checking out of your hotel? Have a goodbye survey on the house. Had a meal? Make sure you take the opportunity to complain (on Google, Yelp, etc.) about the server who accidentally brushed your shoulder while pouring your overpriced Malbec. Or rave about the innovative creme brulee and brioche hybrid that is the heir apparent to the cronut as a worthy “queue them up” for hours artery-clogger. It’s easy. Just a few clicks, and the world will be enlightened with your opinion. And your service provider can “improve the experience” for the legions of satisfied customers to follow.

In fact, service providers in multiple industries are quite busy turning your technological toys into “review generation machines” — because they can. Purchase an item online, and be prepared to answer questions about the item, the purchasing experience, and even the process of returning “crappier in real life than it looked on my Retina Display iMac/iPhone/iPad” item as well. While you are at it, maybe you have some thoughts on the packaging too. If so, the good folks who supply online retailers with corrugated cartons of all shapes and sizes would sure appreciate hearing about it.

There is no doubt that technology has fostered this “connectivity” between consumer and service provider in a quite mind-boggling way. And that those service providers are not shy about exploiting it. Many times, we do not even realize just how much our thinking has changed on this issue….

Here’s an example. In high school, we would get let out for lunch. Because it was Brooklyn, there was no need (or time) to drive anywhere for a bite to eat. Just blocks from our school were some pizzerias, a fast food hamburger place, a diner, and a bagel shop. Imagine if every time I went in for my onion bagel with cream cheese, the counter guy would (even dare to) ask if I enjoyed my last bagel. Or how much I was looking forward to the bagel he was smearing cream cheese on. Or what I thought about the brown paper bag he was going to put it in. I would have eaten a lot more pizza rather than subject myself to that intrusiveness.

But our “modern” feedback culture embraces the right of a service provider to interrogate a customer each time they partake of a service. And it uses technology to enable that behavior, together with techniques such as “gamification,” to encourage the leaving of feedback unsolicited, in exchange for some illusory “status” on a review website. It is very hard to resist the bait, and we therefore help perpetuate the feedback culture in our own little ways.

In contrast, it is interesting to consider just how resistant most law firms are to receiving feedback — especially coming from a Biglaw background, where quite often careers rode on the strength of a few institutional relationships. You would think we would value feedback more, especially in a service business where customer loyalty can be even more important than it is to other industries.

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Consider this. If it is on the weekend, and you get an ear infection that is diagnosed by a doctor at some roadside urgent care clinic, your primary care doctor probably won’t be too much at risk of replacement. But if you handle litigation for a particular client, and they decide to try out some other firm for their next case because they pass that firm’s building every day and have always wondered how it looks inside, you may feel that hit as a lawyer. So lawyers require feedback, because they need sticky clients. And satisfied clients are more likely to be repeat customers.

Yet law firms of all sizes tend to sit on the sidelines of our feedback culture — when it comes to clients, and even in reviewing their own attorneys and staff. Generating feedback takes time, and that means less billings, so it must be costing the firm untold millions, and no one can afford wasting money these days — that’s the prevailing ethos. So leave it for the associates and staff at year end. And make it generic. Associate? “You have a bright future, just maybe not as a partner.” Staff? “We appreciate all your hard work, and your contribution to our family atmosphere. No bonus this year, but please enjoy the buffet at our upcoming holiday party to be held in the third-floor conference room.” Done. Client feedback? Even easier. Just ask: “Did they pay the bill?”

Despite this reticence, feedback can actually be beneficial. Especially at the extremes. You want to know when your clients had a bad experience for whatever reason. And you want them to tell you when you did something that they thought was great. Feedback of all kinds is most helpful when it is given fresh. I am not advocating for firms to include a survey every time they send a draft to a client. Considering how far behind law is relative to other service industries in this area, just letting it be known that clients are welcome to give feedback would be a good start.

As I mentioned, feedback is most important at the extremes. In our profession, your work always needs to be good. Everyone around you — clients, partners, whoever — must think that your work is consistently good. And that your interpersonal skills are good. Good is what is expected, and not something to make a big deal of. If you aspire to make partner or are a partner who wants to become a real rainmaker, then you (at least occasionally) must do work that is great. And you never can do anything that a client or colleague thinks is garbage. Great, good, garbage. A feedback system for the legal industry. All we need is an app.

Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.

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Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique. The firm’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.

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