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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Zoom consult with lawyer

25 replies

Pollywants · 18/10/2021 17:31

I have an appointment with a local lawyer tomorrow, a 'shit hot' one as they say, although, being local I personally don't think they can justify city prices (housing is cheaper here)....I digress.... They want to meet over zoom. For one thing, I have had a lot of bad customer service this past year over zoom. Mistakes have been made by bank workers who insisted on wfh, etc. I am asking myself why am I paying for a local person at high prices when I could have possibly got an equally good one for cheaper from somewhere else if it's just zoom meetings?
AIBU I shouldn't bother with local companies when they insist on zoom meetings at high prices? (and we've all been double vaxxed, etc...)

OP posts:

1Wanda1 · 18/10/2021 17:36

I'm a lawyer. Whether you have your initial meeting in person or over Zoom, the only real difference is likely to be the cost: an in-person meeting usually takes longer, and therefore costs more. I'm not sure why this is except that clients generally get to the point a lot quicker over Zoom or Teams.

You're paying your lawyer by the hour. Ultimately if you want an in-person meeting then that's up to you (you're the client!) but I'd question whether you actually need one to get the advice you need.

As regards rates: rates are rates. My firm is based in London but most of the time I do my work from home these days. My rate is a London rate. It's irrelevant where your firm is based. As with anything else, if you think the price is too high, there are plenty of other firms and you can shop around.

Original poster

Pollywants · 18/10/2021 17:41

I guess my point was, why am I bothering to hire locally when I don't even get to meet in person with them? I could have chosen from a wider selection if I went further afield. Not the rate so much.

Also I find a lot of nuances get lost with video calls but I am sure everyone loves working from home...

OP posts:

DelilahDingleberry · 18/10/2021 17:42

Choose from a wider selection then…? What’s stopping you?

Fleurchamp · 18/10/2021 17:46

I am a solicitor and I offer both zoom and in person appointments (I don't do family work). I find that some clients prefer zoom and others in person - did they refuse an in person appointment?

Lots of our competitors are not conducting in person appointments and we are getting a lot more business because we will.

As you say, it opens a whole new avenue for you - by going remote you have your pick. It is the local solicitor who will miss out. Vote with your feet if they can't offer you the service you want.

ilovemydogandmrobama2 · 18/10/2021 17:48

It's a fair point about paying fees based on location alone, but think some lawyers can base their fees on experience and speciality rather than London rent.

Is this lawyer offering a specialist service?

Original poster

Pollywants · 18/10/2021 18:18

delilah I suddenly realized the meeting was zoom when they sent the invite. I don't know why I pictured in my head a meeting in person. I don't know if it's too late to cancel. I don't really want to cancel, really, I am just sick to the teeth with everything on zoom.

Fleur yes, the option is what I want! so sick of misunderstandings through bad video quality! had errors with a bank already this year because of wfh and also misunderstanding with veterinarian who still won't let people into the practice and talks to you over the phone while you are sat in your car...

OP posts:

Fallagain · 18/10/2021 18:24

You know you could request an on person meeting or choose someone else. Working from home or zoom from an office doesn’t mean the person is doing less work or is worth less.

Covid cases are rising and being double vaccinated only reduces the risk of you catching covid and reduces the risk of you being very ill or dying but it doesn’t stop it’s

I’m not sure what the point of your post is. If you want a different solicitor then hire a different one.

CommonRoom · 18/10/2021 18:31

I don't understand the problem either. If you want a face to face meeting then arrange one with a lawyer who does them.

Invite is a verb. Invitation is the noun
Consult is a verb. Consultation is the noun

MilduraS · 18/10/2021 18:33

Ask if you can change. The law firm I used to work for is offering zoom meetings as a default for younger clients (anyone under retirement age who might be doing zoom calls already through work). If requested, they'll change to face to face.

User527294627 · 18/10/2021 18:35

You’ve already decided that you don’t like their attitude or their prices. You would be mad to pick them. You need a good rapport with your lawyer and if you start off this disgruntled and negative you will never have that.

Xenia · 18/10/2021 18:36

Just ask to attend it in person and see what they say.

AliceinBorderland · 18/10/2021 18:36

@Pollywants

I guess my point was, why am I bothering to hire locally when I don't even get to meet in person with them? I could have chosen from a wider selection if I went further afield. Not the rate so much.

Also I find a lot of nuances get lost with video calls but I am sure everyone loves working from home...

I'm a lawyer and hate working from home.

Even before the pandemic, telephone appointments were the norm in the first instance to spare us the utter time wasters of clients who don't bother to turn up to the appointment.

Also we are not allowed face to face appointments with clients at the moment. Jesus you can't even see a GP at the moment face to face.

AliceinBorderland · 18/10/2021 18:38

@ilovemydogandmrobama2

It's a fair point about paying fees based on location alone, but think some lawyers can base their fees on experience and speciality rather than London rent.

Is this lawyer offering a specialist service?

All lawyers base it on this because of the guideline rates.

guideline hourly rates - GOV.UK" [[https://www.gov.uk/guidance/solicitors-guideline-hourly-rates]]

Ifailed · 18/10/2021 18:42

OP, ignore the grammar bore.
I've been supporting a family member over the past couple of years in a civil case. Some meetings have been in person, others via zoom.
For us a zoom meeting, sat in a familiar home environment, was far less stressful.
We didn't have the palava of having to travel to an unfamiliar office, wearing masks and all the other hassle of Covid prevention, we found zoom meetings easier to discuss all the details of a traumatic event. We did find that printing out any relevant documents helpful before the meetings, rather than trying to read them on screen.

thewhatsit · 18/10/2021 18:43

I get it because we recently wanted to re-do our wills. I chose a local solicitors firm because they are local but the whole thing was on zoom - mostly fine but then when it came to getting them signed and witnessed they seemed to expect us to sort it out ourselves with another witness and then offered us to come to their other branch about 30 miles away. I held out for their local branch and was able to go in, which was good, but that was the whole point of me choosing them. I didn’t shop around for prices, I was prepared to pay whatever it was for a local firm.

thewhatsit · 18/10/2021 18:49

@AliceinBorderland I think it’s a decent question though, and not remotely just about solicitors. If there used to be a huge premium for being in London, and now people can wfh and move further out of London, how should London fees and salaries be set now?
My old job didn’t really exist outside London but we were definitely paid more because it was London. If someone could be based in Newcastle, say, and do that job now because they only need to come into the office a few times a month would the salary be justified anymore?

nordica · 18/10/2021 18:49

This sounds to me exactly the kind of a service that suits Zoom really well and I can understand why the solicitor doesn't want to have clients coming in and out of their office all day if they don't need to. How do you know they are not CEV or live with someone who is? I would also really prefer doing something like this over Zoom as the client as it saves the travel time - no matter how local, it's much quicker to have a quick call than get ready and go somewhere.

AliceinBorderland · 18/10/2021 18:50

[quote thewhatsit]@AliceinBorderland I think it’s a decent question though, and not remotely just about solicitors. If there used to be a huge premium for being in London, and now people can wfh and move further out of London, how should London fees and salaries be set now?
My old job didn’t really exist outside London but we were definitely paid more because it was London. If someone could be based in Newcastle, say, and do that job now because they only need to come into the office a few times a month would the salary be justified anymore?[/quote]
I'm back in the office full time now and most of us 3 days.

TractorAndHeadphones · 18/10/2021 18:54

YANBU OP. It’s the same for many jobs. At the moment prices are all over the place but those that have nothing going for them but a location based premium will see a drop in business.

Nothing stopping you from asking them for F2F. Or going with another firm.

thewhatsit · 18/10/2021 19:08

@AliceinBorderland ok, I mean you’ve just said you can’t do face to face meetings.
I’m not talking about solicitors necessarily. One of my friends is a civil servant and paid London weighting for instance but moved far out of London during the pandemic and is pretty sure she won’t need to ever commute regularly in (you really can’t from where she is).
I live in a London bubble personally where about 80% of everyone I know is a banker, hedge fund manager, lawyer etc. A fair amount of them are all back working as normal - face to face meetings, sales meetings, socialising with clients etc but the rest aren’t and may never be again. So if you’re a bank hiring for a grad scheme and the specific department is now mostly from home, why would you pay a 50k starting salary for a grad now when you could hire from the whole U.K. and pay 30k? I am really fascinated with how this will pan out.

AliceinBorderland · 18/10/2021 19:13

@thewhatsit I also said we didn't before the pandemic Did you miss that

Telephone is enough for the first one.

ZenNudist · 18/10/2021 19:25

Find a different lawyer. Request an in person meeting.

I'm a professional (not law) who does all my meetings by zoom. Before that I used to have conference calls for most work but meetings for face to face personal touch and break up the day. Now I mainly zoom for in person face to face contact. To no detriment to my work. An in person meet of 1hr now takes me 2 extra hours in travel time and faff because I WFH. I'm so busy I'm not taking in person meets unless the fee is sizeable.

Lawyers will of course meet in person but I'd expect it to cost more as it takes more time out of the day face to face.

Abraxan · 18/10/2021 19:30

Also I find a lot of nuances get lost with video calls but I am sure everyone loves working from home...

Why do you think it's because the solicitor wants to work from home. Dh is a solicitor and only worked from home full time during lockdown 1, as he had no choice. Even then he was still seeing some clients face to face where necessary, albeit outdoors, in hospices, etc.

Dh is a solicitor and does some video meetings. These are all at the request of clients, rather than them coming to the office.

Unless they are out of hours he does these at work. He hasn't worked from home for over a year.

They often work out cheaper. Solicitors are often paid by time, and the units of time are very short, often per 5/6 minutes. Less chit chat on video usually, and more straight to the point.

Documents can be send there and then, and viewed in screen and talked through - so no real loss there.

It's often more convenient for clients - they don't have to factor in travelling to and from the office, paying for parking/transport, etc. And to have a home visit from a solicitor would generally cost a lot more as you then need to be paying for the solicitors travel time/costs.

Abraxan · 18/10/2021 19:32

You still have the choice. Request face to face, or cancel and look for an alternative solicitor/lawyer.

FamilyLawMediatorSolicitor · 18/10/2021 19:41

I’m a family lawyer and I meet either face to face or zoom. Clients do sometimes take a bit longer face to face as there tend to be more pleasantries but at my firm we cap the first meeting at an hour of my rate even if it takes two hours. I find slightly more prefer zoom but many want face to face. I’m in the office three days a week so I don’t mind which I do. Happy to accommodate both and I think we should be accommodating clients who want either. I have a mix of Worldwide/National and local clients. Our rates are high end local. Ask them - and if they won’t accommodate you think again

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