Upgrading the Client Experience with Online Payments
This article originally appeared on LawPay.
The way an attorney would go about arguing a case in 2022 is vastly different than it would have been 10 years ago. Similarly, it seems counterintuitive when law firms take an outdated approach to other aspects of supplying legal services—specifically billing and payments. A closer look at the monetary and logistical aspects of hiring legal counsel reveals the standard process of establishing and maintaining a client-attorney relationship is a little dated.
This is particularly obvious when you consider the following:
- • 29 percent of Americans have less than $1000 in their savings account.1
• Nearly 30 percent of Americans do not use cash during a typical week.2
• Between 2007 and 2017, the use of paper checks for payments decreased by nearly 40 percent.3
• 84 percent of individuals say they prefer to pay their bills by credit card.4
Updating your payment process is a lot easier than you may think. Here is a story of a law firm that used modern online payments to elevate the client experience in its practice:
Nayar & McIntyre, LLP is a small, boutique immigration law firm that primarily handles family-based and naturalization cases, humanitarian relief, and deportation defense. They are dedicated to providing competent, compassionate, and affordable legal representation to immigrants and their families.
Firm partners Lakshmi Nayar and Maria McIntyre know for many immigrants, the U.S. immigration experience is daunting, overwhelming, and, unfortunately, distressing. The firm’s goal is to relieve that burden and navigate the complicated immigration maze on behalf of their clients to protect their rights and secure their legal immigration status in the United States.
Both partners have personal ties to immigration law. Nayar is a first-generation immigrant, and McIntyre’s mother immigrated to the U.S. in 1970. The firm shares a personal passion for immigration law, as it is about keeping families together and giving someone the ability to work towards the American Dream.
The firm is small by design, as they want to know their clients by name and not by case number. Nayar and McIntyre say the biggest compliment they can get from clients is a referral, but it warms their hearts when they get invitations to their clients’ weddings, baby showers, quinceañeras, and other special events.
Having started the practice in 2009, Nayar & McIntyre has always been reliant on an online presence. When they signed on with an online payment solution, the firm’s clients embraced the ability to make online payments. According to the firm, that is, by far, the #1 way their clients make monthly payments.
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Sources:
- 1. How Much Does the Average American Have in Savings?, MagnifyMoney, 2019
2. More Americans are making no weekly purchases with cash, Pew Research Center, 2018
3. Consumer Payment Preferences and the Impact of Technology and Regulation: Insights from the Visa Payment Panel Study, Consumer Finance Institute, 2019
4. Fiserv 2021 Experiences & Expectations: Consumer Payments Report, 2021
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