Q. How do you get people to
conform to the way you want
things done?
Generally speaking, we only
hire brand-new lawyers. When
I say ‘brand new,’ I mean they
could be a law clerk for a
judge or they could be right
out of school. But we like
them coming for their first
time in the private practice of law. We then get the opportunity to mold them the way we
want them to be molded.
It’s a constant education.
Every day, I’m correcting letters and pleadings and
explaining, ‘We don’t do it this
way; we do it this way.’
It’s [a] really hands-on, partner-to-associate relationship
that goes on, on a daily basis.
It’s not ‘OK, go do this,’ and
then I don’t know how they
did it or what they did. I read
it and check it. That’s true for
all of the partners.
Q. How do you make sure
your product is the best
it can be?
You have to get everybody
involved and on the same
page. There are some basic
rules in our business, and
No. 1 is that clients come
first. You have to a) respond
to their e-mails very promptly, b) respond to their telephone calls very promptly,
and c) make sure that either
by e-mail or correspondence,
they are kept up on our files,
because obviously they are
reporting to somebody else
and they need to be in the
loop.
Service is our best trait. We
have instant availability with
e-mails and voice mails.
You’ve got to take advantage
of that and let the clients
know that you’re interested,
and get back to them.
Q. How do you get everyone
to buy in to your way of
thinking?
Someone brings in something they’ve done and I say,
‘We don’t do it this way. Here’s
the way we do it.’ That’s true
of all of our partners, generally
speaking. It’s just a matter of
watching what everybody’s
doing until you get to the point
where you’re comfortable that
they’re going to do the right
thing every time.
Do we do this for our five-year lawyers? No, but we do it
periodically with our five-year
lawyers, sure. Currently, (in
years) one through three, we
make sure the product is our
product and that we don’t
have somebody going off on a
tangent.
HOW TO REACH: Rabbitt, Pitzer & Snodgrass PC, (314) 421-5545 or www.rabbittlaw.com
