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17 Young Law. (ABA) 3 (2012-2013)
You Can Be Accessible and also Have a Life

handle is hein.journals/yglwyr17 and id is 83 raw text is: The Young Lawyer Set Up Your Practice to Accept Credit Cards If you think your client may be short on cash, paying with a credit card-essentially a short-term loan to cash-strapped businesses-will get you paid without putting added strain on your client's cash-flow. However, be prepared to pay a percentage of whatever payments you accept by credit as processing fees to third-party billing services. You Can Be Accessible and Also Have a Life By Deanne M. Koll Deanne M. Koll is a shareholder at Bakke Norman, S.C., in Menomonie, Wisconsin. All lawyers struggle with turning off' work when not at work. With cell phones, text messaging, social media, and email on your phone, it can be overwhelming to be available to clients at all times. What do you do when a client asks for your cell phone number? What about when a client friends you on a social media website? Where does your work identity end and your private identity begin? Don't Be Afraid to Give out Your Cell Phone Number-with Parameters I used to be afraid to give out my cell phone number to clients. I thought that it was for my personal life. However, I've learned that I can give my cell phone number to clients as long as I am clear when it is appropriate to use it. I tell clients that during work hours, I prefer to take all calls on my work number. I also tell clients that any calls after work hours or on the weekend should be something that cannot wait until the next work day. Clients generally can distinguish between things that can and cannot wait, but of course there are some clients who think nothing can wait. This ultimately is the tradeoff in giving your cell phone num- ber to clients, but I have never had a client abuse the privilege. If you believe that clients will use the privilege appropriately, giving them your cell phone number is a simple way to be accessible without losing your personal identity. Use Your Email Out-of-Office Setting Every lawyer has encountered the situation where an email comes from a client and if it is not responded to in a couple of hours, another email comes from the client saying, Did you get my last email? In the age of mobile email, clients generally expect attorneys to be responsive and within the hour, sometimes sooner. While many attorneys have risen admirably to the challenge of always Published in The Young Lawyer, Volume 17, Number 8, ©2013 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.

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