For the past year, I went between two different receptionist positions, one being at a dentist’s office, and the other (my current job) at a law firm. I’ve answered phones in other jobs: I was a host at a tequila bar and nightclub, a sales lead in a consignment shop, a ticket booth attendant for a baseball team.

Although the venue changes, answering a phone is a task that stays the same. When I started to move out of the service industry (restaurants, retail and baseball teams) and into the public service sector, I began noticing trends from our inbound callers and I have a few pieces of advice for those who are seeking legal counsel. Note that the pieces of advice to follow apply more to setting than an attorney’s office.

1. Do not – I repeat, DO NOT – ask the receptionist to just let you speak to a lawyer.

You have to pay for that. Literally. Attorneys provide a service and you must pay for it. In most cases, you won't even speak to the attorney until you are in the actual office, sitting in front of them. I understand if you have never been in the situation where you needed legal advice and services, but, like other offices (doctors, dentist, accountants, therapists), the likeliness of you getting a walk-in appointment with an attorney is slim to none.

2. The receptionist does not need your life story.

You end up wasting their time and you will just have to repeat yourself to the paralegal. The receptionist is there to answer the phone, greet people at the front desk, organize files and make coffee. The receptionist is the last person in the firm that will be able to give you any legal advice.

3. Know which area of law in which you are seeking counsel.

If I ask you, “which area of law are you seeking counsel?” and you say “I dunno,” there you go again with wasting time AND the likeliness of you calling a firm that can help you is very, very low. It is most efficient to know which kind of lawyer you need before you start calling offices. Skipping this step could having calling offices all day just to find out that you’ve been contacting the wrong offices all day.

4. Don't ask the receptionist for costs.

Costs depend on multiple things when pursuing a case: Complexity, type of case, area in which you live. In most firms, costs do not fall on the responsibility of the receptionist, but on the legal assistant. The receptionist may be able to answer questions like, “does your attorney work on contingency?” or “Does your attorney take on cases pro bono?” Depending on the firm and the types of cases they work with, you might receive a simple “yes” or “no.”

5. Make copies in advance.

Do you know how much they will charge you if they need to make copies of your stuff? Three times more expensive than what your local FedEx store will charge. When your firm needs to run copies of documents, you are paying for each sheet or paper, plus the inevitable maintenance on the copy machine, the cost for toners, drums and supplies for the copy machine, and the paralegal’s time for standing at the machine – that is a lot of costs for copies when you can pay a fraction to run them yourself.

6. Don't get upset with the paralegal or attorney if you do not have a case.

Paralegals and attorneys don’t turn bills into law. So when you don’t have a case, yes, it is unfortunate, BUT, it’s not the firm’s fault. For instance, I work for an attorney that handles medical malpractice cases; in each state, there are exact outlines for what medical malpractice is, and if you have experienced such, you have the right to file suit.

7. The receptionist doesn't have any legal advice.

Even if they do, they are not allowed to give you any legal advice – you have to pay for that service. It is also a liability if the receptionist is handing out legal advice, so firms with good practice values don’t have their receptionist handing it out.

8. DO NOT WALK INTO A FIRM EXPECTING TO HIRE AN ATTORNEY THAT DAY!

An attorney provides a service, like doctors and dentists and massage therapists, and they have more than one client that they provide services for at any given moment. With that in mind, calendars fill up quickly, and attorneys (doctors, dentists and massage therapists) meet with clients all day. Most importantly, service providers such as attorneys hire receptionist and scheduling specialist so that you must be on that calendar in order to receive their services, and then get billed for their services afterward.

In my experience, the types of potential clients that walk into an office and expect to be seen that day are folks who:

• Need an attorney right away, which may mean that you are also walking out of the office without hiring an attorney, because it takes more than just a beck and call for an attorney to show up at court the next day. Weeks, and maybe even months of file organization and preparation happen before attorneys go to court for a client.
• Were in the area and need to speak to “someone.” Which tends to mean that the person seeking services isn’t completely serious about filing suit, or they “don’t even know where to begin.” For those that “don’t know where to begin," the BEST place to start is your local law advocates.

9. Say "please" and "thank you."

In general, you need to say "please" and "thank you" – when you are conversing with an office in which you seek their services, it is really the time and the place to put forth your best manners.