Sometimes, people are pretty comfortable handing their legal problem, but they want the help of a lawyer just for specific things (like drafting submissions). Other times, an individual may want a lawyer’s help with everything, but they just can’t afford it. Both of these are examples of potential clients for firms that offer unbundled legal services. This blog post discusses what unbundling is, what guidance and rules the BC Law Society has for lawyers who want to offer their services on an unbundled basis, and the business case for offering unbundled legal services at your firm.
WHAT IS UNBUNDLING?
Normally when people pay a lawyer, they pay that lawyer a large amount of money, and the lawyer takes charge of the legal issue entirely. This works for people who can afford it, and have no interest in maintaining control of the process themselves. But, it doesn’t work for everyone. According to People’s Law School, approximately 40% of family law cases involve at least person who is self-represented. This can create an access to justice issue, especially when one side is self-represented and the other side is represented by a lawyer. Unbundled legal services offer a solution that can help remedy this injustice. Instead of paying a lawyer lots of money to do everything, unbundled services allow people to pay a lawyer a smaller sum of money just to do one or two things. This provides a solution for the people who can’t afford to pay a lawyer for everything, and also for those who prefer to maintain control over their own case, but still see the benefit of legal help for some aspects of it. For example, you could hire a lawyer just to help you draft submissions. Or just to sit down with you for an hour or two and chat through the various options that you have, and what some strategies might be moving forward. Unbundling legal services allows people to access legal counsel who otherwise wouldn’t be able to.
WHAT DOES THE LAW SOCIETY SAY?
The Law Society of British Columbia was the first in the country to create policies to encourage lawyers to offer unbundled legal services. This started in 2008, when they approved recommendations from the Unbundling of Legal Services Task Force. Chapter 3.2-1.1 of the Code of Professional Conduct contains the rules for offering unbundled legal services in BC. It provides guidance on limited scope retainers, which is the mechanism that lawyers use when offering unbundled legal services. Specifically, it states that “before undertaking a limited scope retainer the lawyer must advise the client about the nature, extent and scope of the services that the lawyer can provide and must confirm in writing to the client as soon as practicable what services will be provided.” The commentary made beneath this rule stresses the importance of making it clear, in writing, to the client exactly what is and isn’t covered by the retainer. It asks lawyers to specifically turn their mind to things such as how communication with opposing counsel will be handled, whether the lawyer would be required to disclose to a tribunal member the specific scope of the retainer, and to ensure that the lawyer’s actions don’t lead the client to believe that the limited scope retainer covers more than it does.
As long as you comply with the rule about limited scope retainers, you can offer unbundled legal services at your firm. So the question becomes, why should you?
WHY YOUR FIRM SHOULD OFFER UNBUNDLED SERVICES
First, lets talk about the risks that come with offering unbundled legal services. The Law Society highlights four risks:
- Failing to warn: when the lawyer doesn’t properly outline the limits of the agreement to the client, including the consequences and associated risks of the limits
- Accepting limits that are unreasonable: some things just aren’t suited to a limited scope retainer agreement, especially issues that are really complex or technical
- No shared understanding: this happens when a lawyer and a client have different understandings of what each of them is responsible for, based on what the limited scope retainer agreement says
- Not qualifying the advice: when a lawyer provides advice to a client, but doesn’t state that the advice is based just on the facts and situation as the client presented it and that the advice could change if new information surfaced
Of course, the Law Society also provides tips for managing those risks. Their advice boils down to this: be sure to communicate clearly, both when speaking to your client, and when putting the limited scope retainer into writing. The agreement should be written using plain language – the law society even provides sample limited scope retainer agreements. It should outline who will be responsible for what tasks. What specifically will you as a lawyer be doing for this client. And what specifically won’t you be doing.
With those risks in mind, why would offering unbundled legal services benefit my firm? Clio puts it simply: offering unbundled legal services allows you to serve more clients and grow your business. Unbundled services allow people to access legal services who otherwise wouldn’t be able to. From your firm’s perspective, that means that your pool of potential clients is larger. If 40% of family law cases in court include an unrepresented individual, and your firm starts offering unbundled family law services, then you just gained access to 40% more potential clients. There are several ways that this can grow your business.
- More money: By serving more clients, you have the opportunity to bring in more money.
- Repeat clients: Clients that you provided unbundled services to may come back to the firm for more unbundled services later on the same matter, or may even retain your firm for a different matter later. Lets say you provide a client with excellent help on an unbundled basis through their divorce. And now, post-divorce, they’ve realized that they need to update their will. Because you provided unbundled services to them, you have established a relationship with them, and they are likely to reach out and get your help drafting their will.
- Referrals: Law firms get business through word of mouth. If you do a good job helping a client using a limited scope retainer, and they tell their friends about you, there is a potential that your client’s friends will use your firm for their legal needs later on as well. These referrals would not have brought business to your firm, except for the fact that you offered unbundled legal services to a client.
Offering unbundled legal services can help you gain clients and grow your business – so why not offer them? If you’re thinking of offering unbundled services for family law – there is even a roster that you can add your name to. So what are you waiting for?