When it comes to the practice of law, lawyers are faced with various choices. One of these choices can be whether or not to work from an office or work from home. While some firms may make this choice for the lawyer by requiring them to come into the office for certain portions of the week, others may not. This leaves the lawyer with a choice of where to meet with clients. If a lawyer is working essentially from their home or vehicle and must meet with a client faced to face they must decide whether they want to meet at the clients home or place of work or meet the client at a public meeting location.
If a client is okay with the lawyer meeting at their home or place of work then that can work out well. However, the client may also not feel comfortable discussing the matter at their home depending on who lives in their home, parties involved and the substance of the case. Furthermore, depending on the situation regarding the content of the meeting and/or the place of business the client may not feel comfortable having the meeting in their place of business.
This would lead the lawyer to likely have to meet in a public location if an office space is not available. This can lead to problems in the area of confidentiality when meeting at places such as a coffee shop or lunch area where others are sitting next to you and can hear a conversation regarding a confidential matter. Furthermore, this can lead to an unprofessional meeting environment that your client may not feel comfortable talking at because others around or loud conversations of others utilizing the public area.
Overall, I think that this is something that a lawyer needs to consider when they choose to work form home, whether it be that they have an office they rent, a small home office at their home or a quiet area that is designated to meet with clients. This can ensure that the clients are comfortable when discussing their legal matters with their attorney.
Riley,
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking a lot lately about remote work. The idea of not having to commute to an office every day sounds so appealing. However, I also know I am someone who needs to change locations in order to switch into productivity mode. So I don't know if a home office is something I will ever be able to enjoy. I think the office lifestyle may be for me. Or, at the very least, I might prefer the "do your work in a cafe" lifestyle!
Before we moved to Florida and I became strictly WFH (22 years ago - I was ahead of the curve), my firm had traditional office space. However, there were several lawyers not part of the firm who paid us a nominal fee (about $75/month) to use our conference room during the day and after hours to meet with clients.
ReplyDeleteThis worked out well for all involved. In most firms, a conference room is empty much of the time. We were happy to get some money to put toward the rent. The lawyers using the conference room were happy because they had a low-cost place to meet with clients. As trust built between us and those lawyers, we developed referral relationships and sent cases in both directions.