How to Keep the Attorney Office Neat and Tidy

An attorney's personal office, especially the desk, can have a positive or negative impact on a client. Orderliness is important and projects a favorable image. A desk cluttered with files, periodicals, and other papers can cause clients to believe that the attorney can never find anything, handles confidential matters poorly, and wastes time in responding to inquiries.

Jan frequently encouraged clients to visit her office to conduct business or discuss issues. As a sole practitioner, she generally found it easier to work there, where she could access files and random information in her library. She also did not like to visit clients' offices because of the time she had to spend packing and unpacking her briefcase. She never was sure which file to bring, and ultimately, she ended up taking everything. Also, it was implicit that client visits to her office were billable time.


Clients visiting Jan couldn't help but notice all the files, periodicals, and other papers on her desk and office tables, and some wondered how she ever found anything. Most had noticed that if they called her unexpectedly with a specific question regarding a particular matter, she would almost always have to return their call. Sometimes that return call didn't take place for up to an hour. After seeing her office, they realized it probably took Jan that long to locate the appropriate files.

Another concern for many of Jan's clients was that some of the paperwork on her desk lay perilously close to the guest chairs. A guest in Jan's office might easily glance over the papers and learn the nature of the business. Clients wondered if their confidential matters were really being held confidential. Most of Jan's clients chose to continue utilizing Jan and accepted her disorganization as a "necessary evil"; they felt she was a good attorney and genuinely liked her. But two of Jan's major clients ended up hiring another lawyer because of their discomfort with her state of disorganization.

Jan lamented to her secretary after losing the two clients that she did not know what the problem was. They had told her they wanted an attorney who was more "on top of things," with a quicker response time to questions. Jan's secretary told her candidly that she needed to present a better office image. The secretary knew this was a problem for Jan because the clients had made off- the-cuff comments to her on their way out of the office.

Marking three days off her schedule the next week, rearranging appointments, and completing work ahead of time, Jan set out to organize. She and her secretary purchased new file cabinets and file folders and began to file client business forms, periodicals, newspapers clippings, and all the other loose papers. Jan also organized her computer files, backing up outdated files onto floppy disk for storage and keeping only current, relevant files on her hard disk.

Visiting clients noticed the difference immediately and complimented Jan on the change. She invited her two former clients back to her office to display the improvement and to ask them to consider her for future work. Although the former clients made no promises for the future, they were clearly impressed with Jan's resolve to improve her office.

The Attorney's Office

Orderliness comes more easily for some attorneys than others, but for any one, keeping an office organized is easier than trying to bring order out of chaos. Clients expect attorneys to work efficiently when the time clock is running, and they certainly expect confidentiality.

Response time to unexpected questions is a key issue for lawyers. Some clients do not understand the importance of research and expect their attorneys automatically to know many of the answers to their questions. For an attorney to say to a client, "I need to finish something, but I will call you back within ten minutes," is acceptable to a client. That gives the attorney the time to access necessary files, peruse the information, and make some general recommendations, either for further research or abandonment of the issue.

For an attorney to be asked the same question and tell the client, "I will call you back as soon as possible," and telephone with a response hours later is unacceptable. Clients will understand if the attorney is in a meeting and must wait to return a call, but a meeting is never an excuse for poor organization. Orderliness helps staff to work more efficiently and effectively. Imagine the litigator, calling his office during a court break to ask an important question and the secretary being unable to find the answer because she cannot, in the given time frame, locate the correct file! The attorney's secretary should always have easy access to all office information for the benefit of the attorney and the ultimate benefit of the client.

Style

The attorney's particular style in terms of his or her office should meet that attorney's desired image and client expectations.

The archetypical formal office gives a closed impression through the traditional furniture placement. The desk, which tends to be large, relative to the space available, is placed to serve as a barrier between the lawyer and the visitor. Further, visitor seating is usually limited with only two upright or wingback chairs, relatively close together and close to the desk. Usually there is no end table or other place for the visitor to put coffee or papers. Consequently, only a small space on the desk, at best, is available for the visitor. This office is a power statement; it is domineering for the attorney and belittling for the client.

Another option, the reverse of the formal office style, is an informal style. This is possible even in the smallest of office spaces and often makes visitors feel more equal to the attorney than the formal style. The most notable feature is that there is nothing of substance between the visitor and the lawyer, most especially the desk. The desk might be against a wall, or in a large office, off to the side of the room. Attorney and visitor meet in facing chairs, possibly at a shared table or with an occasional table between them. There is ample space for files, coffee mugs, and other relevant paperwork for both.

The informal style works well if the attorney is comfortable in a casual setting with clients and visitors. It requires a higher level of self-esteem than the formal arrangement, since the attorney really is on an equal level with his or her visitor. There are times, though, when the formal style is more appropriate for the office. Some clients might expect a formal arrangement and be uncomfortable in anything but that. It would be up to the attorney in that case to make the client comfortable in the less casual setting or opt for more formality.