CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

One of life's true joys is having someone read you a story. So it's probably not surprising that I have become addicted to audio books. As much as I love music, there is something absolutely soothing about having the company of an author on my weekly commute between Manhattan and the Berkshires.

Right now, I'm in the middle of blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking -- Malcolm Gladwell's phenomenal new book. Drop everything, everything -- and go buy it. It's even more fascinating than his prior book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference -- which I found so intriguing that I read it straight through -- twice. The audiobook is even more delicious because Gladwell, a staff writer at The New Yorker, himself reads it. (Interesting side note, it's also substantially more expensive than the hard cover edition -- oh well.)

Anyway: In blink, Gladwell analyzes what many of us would call "intuition" or that "gut level, split second" decision-making process that we use zillions of time a day. My undergrad education included large wallops of psych and sociology, topics that are often difficult to discuss intelligently without inducing snoring. But Gladwell brings even the most arcane social psychology experiments to life, with fascinating results -- and includes topics that every single practicing lawyer simply must listen to. The most riveting (so far, I'm only 1/3rd into the book) is his discussion of medical malpractice.

  Lissen up, litigators:

Studies show, sez Gladwell, that you can predict who will get sued for med mal by listening to the tone of voice of the doctor as he talks to his patients -- even if you strip out all the content! That doctors who speak with an open, compassionate tone -- rather than with patronizing or condescending inflection and cadence -- simply do not get sued. Even when they make mistakes.

He also discusses studies that show that doctors who spend JUST a few more minutes with a patient -- and manage expectations of the patient -- by offering them roadmaps (e.g., "I'll do this examination, and then we'll talk about the options and I'll answer any questions you might have") trigger loyalty and appreciation from patients, who DO NOT SUE even when their doctors make mistakes.

Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist (or a Ph.D sociologist) to translate this to our profession. I'm willing to bet my bar ticket that if those exact same studies were performed on lawyers, the studies would generate the exact same results.

There is no question that lawyers, like doctors, must rethink their relationships with their clients -- no matter whether those clients are aging elders in a small town, or the biggest corporations in the world.

Client satisfaction -- whether it's buying a car or betting the farm on a law suit -- often boils down to whether the customers/clients feel that they have been heard during the transaction. That they have been listened to, rather than "handled" and "processed."

I'm always astounded by firms that don't do the simple things to measure client satisfaction -- like sending a survey, or setting up a post-deal/litigation lunch just to talk about the results and how the lawyers could have improved their performance. It's only common sense -- and keeping communication flowing can nip any problems in the bud, as well as identify future work.

As Aretha always says, it's all about
R E S P E C T.

Listen to a clip from the book.
For more info, or Windows media version of the clip, click here.