Legal documents are very confusing. Like others in my position, I hire a lawyer to guide me through the process. To be fair, in a barebones manner, that is what I got with MD Laws. The issue was the unnecessary indignities along the way.
Seconds into the first call, rather than listening to understand my specific goals, he sought to fast track the process by steering me toward one of his boilerplates and warned that any deviation will cost a lot more. He was unusually blunt, and lacked a certain politeness and mannerism one would expect from a professional. Nevertheless, he seemed knowledgable, and I figured I was helping out a small local business.
After the trust was prepared, it would have been good to proactively schedule a phone call to provide counsel on common issues to watch out for. Instead, MD Law offered two instruction sheets, along with more instructions in an email. This is the email I'll refer to in an example below.
I asked, repeatedly, if there were any other estate planning legal documents I should consider for the future. After the *third* time, he finally answered. Rather than simply saying "what we have done here is enough for a typical middle class person. If things change, I can help", he, confusingly, said how he wasn't charging extra fees for the services provided. Then, he launched into how there are too many scenarios for him to even begin answering the question. First example of unnecessarily creating a negative experience.
When the notary noticed a blank field on a form and refused to notarize, slightly panicking, I called MD Laws for clarification. Rather reminding me the answer, which would have taken no time at all, he scolded me, saying he had already addressed it in the email, then questioned why I couldn't just go check the email and *waited* for my answer. I wasn't sure what to say... did he want me to apologize for not remembering all the instructions and to sift through my phone for his email in public? Therefore, again, going out of the way to be punishing and obnoxious.
Knowing that he may not be aware how some of that behaviors can come across, I gently reminded him that it's unnecessary to treat clients this way. Somehow that feedback really set him off. To say his reply was shockingly unprofessional would be an understatement. So yet again, out of all the easier and more positive choices, he took time to pick an extremely negative one.
It doesn't take a lot to create a great customer experience, and for the sake of building his business further, I hope he'd stop going out of the way to create a bad one. read more
