Law Firm Launches Web 'Chat Service' for Potential PI Clients
For potential clients who need a personal injury lawyer, setting an appointment and going to an attorney’s office for an initial consultation can be a daunting process.
But a British firm hopes to encourage the solicitor-shy to come to them by offering an Internet “chat service” that gives potential clients a chance for a live “talk” with a lawyer simply by logging onto a computer. The option offered by a Manchester firm known as Pannone is highly unusual in the United Kingdom, according to Webwire—and probably elsewhere, too, for that matter.
“Other U.K. law firms offer a service that allows people to leave questions, but Pannone [is] amongst the first in the world to give this free immediate response service,” the press release states. “The online chat service is currently available during normal office hours but it is planned to extend the service as it takes off.”
As discussed in an ABA Journal eReport article last year (“Holy Hornbooks, Batman! There’s a Lawyer on the Line!” Feb. 10, 2006), a personal injury firm in Chicago has tried offering almost-live advice to potential clients via a free telephone hotline located in a local currency exchange. Such facilities are commonly used by individuals without checking accounts to cash checks, wire money to distant relatives, pay utility bills and get money orders.
Shelby Kanarish, a lawyer with Harvey L. Walner & Associates, said the hotline is answered 24/7 by an answering service, and should usually result in a call back from an attorney within the hour “unless it’s 2 in the morning.“ A prompt response, he says, prevents potential clients from looking for another lawyer.
