Tip the Scales 35. Utilize Referrals: Building a Network of Resources to Broaden Your Scope of Practice | Jeremy Tissot, The Tissot Law Firm
As you grow your legal practice, it can be tempting to focus in on one specific area. And while diving deep into a specialty can be good, it’s important to remember not to limit yourself. Referrals can be one of your best friends, both in getting new cases and in expanding the scope of your practice.
Jeremy Tissot of The Tissot Law Firm is a pro at both referring cases to attorneys who specialize in other areas of law and handling cases that get referred to his firm. He has become one of the leading experts on litigating traumatic brain injury cases, and in fact, is a faculty member and featured speaker at TBI MedLegal conferences. Jeremy has taken more than 2,000 depositions over the course of his career and has been first chair on over thirty jury trials.
Today, we talk about when you should refer a case to another lawyer and how to make sure your intake team is set up to accept cases that get referred to you. Jeremy shares his insight into working with TBI victims, including the challenges working with mentally ill clients can pose.
Key takeaways
Learn what you don’t know. No matter how long you’ve been working in a field, there’s always more to learn. You can’t get complacent and start to think you have everything figured out. Always be looking for what you don’t know, and don’t be afraid to call other lawyers for help.
Focus on improving your intake. If you’re missing more than 10 percent or so of your calls, you’re missing not only cold leads from potential clients, but also warm leads from other attorneys. Your intake team needs to be consistently answering and returning calls and engaging with clients who call you looking for help.
Mental illness complicates everything. Not only can it make your interactions with your clients more challenging, but it can also make your discovery process harder. It’s important to find ways to accurately assess the mental symptoms your clients are experiencing, as well as the physical ones.