Family Leave for Solos and Small Firm Lawyers

Family Leave for Solos and Small

Firm LawyersPosted on 03/09/2015

How do solos and small firm lawyers plan for extended leave when a new

member is about to join the family? It can be hard enough to take a vacation!

Fortunately, there are some answers and good resources to draw upon. (Jump

to the end of this post.) For now, lets cover the basics.

Colleagues, Conflicts, and Staffing

The best coverage plan entails having a number of colleagues lined up who are

willing to cover your cases. Remember what your parents said? Safety in

numbers! If one person cant cover in an emergency, someone else can. A team

approach works best.

By necessity, any lawyers who might work on client matters must be screened

for conflicts. Clients need to be notified anyway about your upcoming leave.

Use this opportunity to get permission to share information for conflict and

representation purposes. (More on this below.)

If you have staff, great! They are a huge help any time you are away from the

office, more so during extended absences. They will be a lifeline for everyday

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communication, including screening mail, email, and calls. If you dont have staff,

consider getting a temp. Having someone who can cover day-to-day operations

brings peace of mind and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks.

How Do I Tell My Clients?

One option is to send a letter or email. No surprise there. But is it the best

approach?

Most lawyers anticipating family leave have a number of colleagues in mind to

assist in covering their cases. This alone can make writing a letter or email

complicated and confusing: Im going to be out of the office, but you can

choose from Lawyer A, Lawyer B, or Lawyer C. Huh?

Consider picking up the phone instead. Call clients and tell them you are taking

a medical leave and why. (Of course, you can omit the why part it is personal

and technically no ones business, but most lawyers taking family leave dont

mind sharing this news.)

Have a conversation with the client about what is happening. Explain your plan,

offer a name of a monitoring lawyer (or team of monitoring lawyers), then get

consent to screen for potential conflicts and review the clients case with the

monitoring lawyer(s). If everything is a go, make sure the client understands

and agrees to temporary representation by the monitoring lawyer(s). Dont

forget to discuss how the billing and payment piece will work.

If the client does not agree with your proposed arrangement, you may have to

disengage and withdraw from the case. The client will need to find a new lawyer

of their choosing.

Confirming Arrangements in Writing

Assuming you call clients to review your plan, sending a confirming email

becomes relatively easy:

As we discussed, I will be out of the office on a medical leave of absence

for ___________ (months/weeks). During my leave, I propose that

_______________ monitor your file. You agree that I may share



information with _____________ so (he/she) may screen for potential

conflicts of interest. If no conflicts exist, you agree that I may disclose details

of your case to ______________________ for purposes of monitoring your

file and attending to any legal work that needs to be accomplished while I

am out of the office. If we discover a conflict that prohibits

___________________ from assisting you, I will contact you immediately.

You will receive a separate written confirmation from

___________________ (the monitoring lawyer) confirming the

arrangements we have made.

(Describe next how the client will be billed.)

My assistant, _______________, will be available by phone and email

should you have any questions while I am out of the office. (Provide your

assistants contact information.)

Rest assured I will stay informed regarding the status of your case. I

anticipate returning to the office on ___________. If for any reason my

return is delayed, I will inform you immediately.

(Optional: Please reply to this email confirming your understanding and

agreement to this arrangement.)

Fee Agreements and Paying the Monitoring Lawyer

If your existing fee agreement has a provision informing the client that you have

made arrangements for someone to cover your practice in the event of illness or

disability you have laid the necessary foundation for using a monitoring lawyer.

The PLF offers a number of fee agreements and engagement letters that

incorporate assisting attorney language. For samples, visit the PLF website.

Select Practice Management > Forms, then Engagement Letters.

If your existing fee agreement has a contract lawyering provision meaning the

client has consented to use of a contract lawyer at a specified rate it is easy to

have the monitoring lawyer step into the contract role. You may bill the client for

contract lawyering services according to your existing fee agreement.



Alternatively, clients can sign separate fee agreements with the monitoring

lawyer.

More Answers and Good Resources

There are many excellent articles and resources for lawyers planning family

leave:

Navigating Maternity Leave How to Maintain Your Sanity and Your Career How to Succeed after Maternity Leave: Tips for Attorneys and Law Firms Mama Solos and the Maternity Leave Mystery Maternity Leave for Solo Lawyers: Is It Possible? Oh Baby! Preparing for Maternity and Family Leave as a Solo Practitioner The Baby and the Solo Practice You Have a Baby In Your Office (and other maternity leave ideas)

[All Rights Reserved 2015 Beverly Michaelis]

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This entry was posted in Career, Client Relations, Ethics, Solo Practice, Staffand tagged Beverly Michaelis, conflicts, extended absence, Family Law, fee agreements, Maternity leave, Oregon law practice management, small firm, Solo by beverlym. Bookmark the permalink [http://oregonlawpracticemanagement.com/2015/03/09/family-leave-for-solos-and-small-firm-lawyers/] .

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