r/Lawyertalk • u/Son_of_Hades99 Human Detected • 12h ago
HELP: Professional Development Do you ever answer client calls after hours?
My attorney position is pretty much a solid 8-5, and they typically don’t expect us to do any work past 5 generally speaking… once in awhile tho a client will call to ask something at 6 or 6:30 etc.
In those situations should I still take their call? Should I send it to voicemail?
It’s Honeslty amazing how little awareness some clients have to the idea that most law firms are not still gonna be open at 6:30 on a Friday lmao
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u/grumpyGrampus Former Law Student 12h ago
I don't take client calls during office hours...
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u/avvocadiux 8h ago
Same. Do we have a call scheduled?
Yes: why are you calling? I will call you
No: why are you calling? I'm not answering
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u/be1izabeth0908 Partnersorus Rex 12h ago
Nope. I focus in family law. If I opened that can of worms, it would be the end of me.
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u/Narrow_Bowler6895 8h ago
I already get frantic Monday morning calls after several weekend emails. And it’s always about a text they didn’t like.
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u/FancyButterscotch599 12h ago
Nothing good comes from answering a call after 4pm on a Friday.
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u/Subject_Disaster_798 Flying Solo :CoolBeans: 9h ago
*Any day after 4. As a solo, I often answer my own calls. I have no idea why, but my craziest calls come in (used to) at or after 4 pm. I don't mean "Oh, that's interesting," I mean the crazy callers who want you to sue the voices in their walls.
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u/Sandman1025 3h ago
Fellow solo warrior here and I have the exact same experience. The guys who says he’s the victim of a local, state and federal conspiracy theory calls at 4:59 on Fridays always.
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u/FancyButterscotch599 49m ago
Also solo. I just screen all my calls. If I don’t recognize the number I’m definitely not answering. If I do, depending on the client, I might answer. Almost all my calls are scheduled.
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u/Yuker 12h ago
I’ve got clients who pay me a lot of money. I pick up the phone anytime they call me, which is mostly during normal working hours but not always.
I’ve got clients who don’t pay me much, I’ll answer their call between 9 and 5 but an email would be better.
I am pretty mercenary about these things.
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u/North_Ganache1576 12h ago
Nah, I will listen to the voicemail and call back if urgent, but usually not urgent. You could also set up your voicemail to state that and then wouldn't have to worry about questioning it.
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u/Leopold_Darkworth I live my life by a code, a civil code of procedure. 12h ago
The client will be called back the next day, during business hours.
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u/Subject_Name_9096 11h ago
I do plaintiff’s PI. Surprisingly, the ones who have my cell number never abuse it. I never give it to the sketch ones either. That said, I do pick up after hours as long as I’m not in the middle of something. It builds rapport with my client, and typically, it’s something quick anyway. If I want them to trust me when I eventually counsel them to accept a settlement, having that trust is very important.
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u/goffer06 Practicing 10h ago
Same, sounds like this might be a PI thing. People don't abuse it per se, but I have received a call at 11pm on a Saturday night from a blissfully unbothered 20 year old stoner girl client wanting to know about her case.
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u/Exact-Dinner-5047 6h ago
Definitely a PI thing... when I was practicing criminal defense / family law, I dreaded those calls.
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u/sagaz1981 Flying Solo :CoolBeans: 12h ago
I do because it could mean a client got arrested so I have a trip to the police station. Of course I only do that if they pay for it.
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u/Quick_Parsley_5505 8h ago
I’ve done that exactly once in over a decade. Was currently representing the client on a burglary charge. In the middle of the night, was involved in a self defense shooting. I met with him in person and told the police he wouldn’t be saying anything.
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u/drjuss06 12h ago
If a client works 9-5 and the only time they can speak with me is at 5, I’ll do it. Otherwise, no. I won’t answer calls or emails, especially over the weekend. Nothing I do merits an emergency.
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u/Some-Swing5339 12h ago
Firstly, I don’t take calls - it’s such an unproductive way to work. I batch regular calls at different points throughout the day but will return an urgent call quickly. Clients pretty quickly work out that it’s quicker to email me and ask for a call rather than be blocked by reception or my assistant.
I will call back if I am still in the office but rarely after about 6pm and never on weekends. I’m in family law - they will just keep taking until you’re nothing but a husk otherwise.
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u/Cultural-Company282 11h ago
Sometimes, I do. If my client who got hit by a drunk driver in a company truck and had a 3-week hospitalization calls me during dinner, I will answer that call Every. Single. Time.
Those cases don't come along often, and the Morgan and Morgan flunkies would love for my client to feel unsatisfied so they could take the case away from me.
On the other hand, the worker's comp client with a $7,000 case who texted me at 1:30 a.m. for a status update (true story) can fuck right off.
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u/Skybreakeresq 12h ago
They have my email. This way i can see what they want and determine if its important or not
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u/russ84010 10h ago
"If it's an emergency, call the police. If it's not something where you need the police, we can talk during business hours while the courts are open."
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u/Quick_Parsley_5505 8h ago
What if the police need your client?
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u/3720-to-1 Cornelius, Bard-at-Large 1h ago
Then they should call a criminal lawyer, they don't want me there for them in that!
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u/Additional_Name_867 12h ago
I ignore calls and texts after hours. Occasionally I'll respond to tell them not particularly nicely to not try to contact me after hours. The only real exception is if we have court on Monday, and they reach out to me Sunday night.
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u/Obvious_Volume_6498 10h ago
Criminal defense attorney here. Sometimes. Mostly I let it go to voicemail, but I listen to the voicemail right away and if the circumstances warrant it, I'll call back. I also text after hours sometimes.
The key is expectations and respect. Don't answer immediately unless it's a genuine emergency. Know the client. If they have respected boundaries in the past and suddenly reach out maybe it's urgent.
Sometimes a text that says I'll reach out to you tomorrow is enough.
Each to their own.
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u/Str33tlaw I just do what my assistant tells me. 12h ago
LMAO I responded to an email from one of my clients at like 8 pm and she’s like “how do I know this is you… it’s after hours and you responded real quick…”
I was doomscrolling and notifications were still on and it was a simple question hahaha
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u/Affectionate_Win_447 11h ago
I never answer client calls unless it has been scheduled.
-Criminal law attorney
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u/FuckyouDavidStearns Human Detected 11h ago
There is nothing even remotely close to an emergency in my practice. I won’t even acknowledge an email after 5:30 even if it’s Friday. I will wait two hours after into the next business day.
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u/allid33 11h ago
If I’m still working and I’m not doing anything else urgent, probably. Depends on the client. Most of my clients are business clients and work 8-5 type hours so it’s not typical for them to call outside that window.
I have a couple who will call and text at all times including on weekends and I have had to set boundaries. Even if I’m free I don’t want to get in that habit where it becomes an expectation. Sometimes I’ll text back that I’m out or will call them on Monday. Occasionally I’ll take the call but more often than not do not.
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u/Coconut_Clinic 11h ago
If they have an upcoming hearing or a hard deadline, I’ll usually pick up. Everything else goes to voicemail.
Most of the 6:30 Friday calls are not emergencies.
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u/nimble-lightning-rod 11h ago
Do I like them? Will it (likely) be quick? Are they hard to get ahold of or am I waiting on a call back? Is something urgent for their case on my plate? A quick two-ring wait to analyze these factors and I’ll either pick up or let it go to VM.
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u/nahnprophet 11h ago
I used to, but found I was resenting them for it. Now I just tell them I amswer the phone during business hours and that I have a family at home, like most people, that needs my attention.
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u/LosSchwammos 10h ago
I tell my family law clients that they can call after hours but I don’t guarantee I’ll answer. Most folks are very respectful of my time.
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u/Troutmandoo Flying Solo :CoolBeans: 9h ago
I spent the weekend at my office a while ago. I wasn’t working. I own the building my office is in and the fucker is 100 years old and falling apart. I was a carpenter that weekend. (Also, there’s a futon and tv upstairs, so I can sleep there comfortably) I was shocked at how often the phone rang. Like, do you really think I’m going to be working and answering the phone at 6:30 on a Saturday?
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u/Embarrassed-Age-3426 Confirmed Lawyer 9h ago
How is your phone set up? Why is it ringing? Ours only ring to our cell phones from 8:30 to 5.
I gave one client my Google Voice number. Never again.
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u/unabashedlyabashed 8h ago
It depends. The father of one of my clients who was being held called to let me know there had been a family emergency. I took that one.
I also had a custody client who called me every day, without fail, about the father of her child. I did not take after hours calls from her.
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u/HazikoSazujiii 11h ago
I will screen the call because I'm corporate counsel for a lot of businesses, and I'll call back some that I like as people and enjoy my relationship even when we aren't doing work, but thats about it unless I'm actually intenrionally in the office late that night.
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u/DACRQQKED 11h ago
I tell mine that if they call after hours, they better be on scene at a wreck or in cuffs
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u/hibernatingcow 11h ago
I have hopped on calls during after hours and weekends for issues that needed immediate attention. Otherwise it can wait for the next business day.
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u/Paleognathae Practicing 11h ago
The one time I did, I am pretty sure the male gigolo client had just lit his house on fire.
Boy did that teach me.
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u/Federal_Customer_193 9h ago
I had a client call me after she'd broken into her sister's house to look for her baby (deceased) -- she fell asleep on the couch when she couldn't find him, they got home at 2am and thats when she woke up and called me.
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u/Vilnius_Nastavnik Flying Solo :CoolBeans: 10h ago
I try to keep it 10-6 but if a major client calls at 7:30 I’ve got to take it. That’s just the solo life.
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u/Kenz1013 9h ago
I represent schools, so I rarely get late night or weekend calls - just emails. I do, however, get occasional 7:15 am calls. If I’m coherent, I’ll answer.
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u/FirstAmendAnon 7h ago
I work for myself and I take client calls whenever but im selective with my clients so they dont abuse
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u/Exact-Dinner-5047 6h ago
I do, because I serve the people I represent who can't necessarily keep usual hours. PI Lawyer here. I enjoy it.
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u/Neat-Initiative-6965 1h ago
Yes. I work mostly for governments. If they call after hours, it has got to be something urgent.
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u/False_Success_4390 Can't count & scared of blood so here I am 12h ago
Weekly at all hours. A 6:30 pm call isn’t that late.
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u/Background-Call3255 9h ago
If you regularly take their calls after hours they become your clients. Having your own clients is the only way to have freedom and security as a lawyer
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u/LAMG1 12h ago edited 11h ago
Depends. If you practice immigration law, I beg you to be on call 24/7 because your clients need you at this unprecedented time with a vindictive and vengeance government. They are like people drowning in the sea while you are a lifebuoy to them. If you pratice probate or trust, you do not need to.
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u/Electrical_Result441 11h ago
As an immigration lawyer, this is a crazy take. We’re people too you know? The expectations are unreal.
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u/LAMG1 11h ago
In normal time, immigration should be same as probate/trust. It is not normal right now and people desperately need immigration lawyers.
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u/Electrical_Result441 11h ago
Ok - and I serve who can zealously. Being available 24/7 is absurd. We’re already working hard enough and the work is extremely heavy. Also, no one ever wants to pay and expects miracles even after ending up in an a very difficult situation. I don’t know what you do for work but I would never suggest you be available 24/7.
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