By OBA Management Assistance Program Director Jim Calloway

If you have a practice where you primarily represent consumers, particularly those who have never retained a lawyer before, it is as important to make scheduling appointments for new prospective clients as simple and easy as possible. Nowadays, some people avoid speaking on the telephone whenever they can. So it is important to give them the option of using a scheduling tool.

Scheduling tools are useful for existing clients as well. They appreciate picking a date and time that is good for them.

Director of the North Carolina Bar Association Center for Practice Management Catherine Reach has authored an excellent piece: “Using a Scheduling Tool for Efficient Appointments.”

She notes: “Some lawyers are trepidatious about using a scheduling tool like Calendly, Accuity, or Bookings because they don’t want to share the link broadly or find themselves overbooked. The good news is that there are a lot of ways to protect your time even if you use a scheduling tool, and you can share the link with discretion.”