It’s much more effective than any kind of print advertising. There’s an average of four or five cases posted a day in the areas that I'm listed in.
I'm very happy with LegalMatch. Obviously when I first heard about LegalMatch, I was very concerned about the monthly cost and whether it would really generate leads and clients that would cover even just those monthly costs. My experience has been, so far, from April of this year through September, that I generate about 10 times the amount of fees that I pay to LegalMatch.
I can choose the cases that are best suited to me and I can reach out to those clients. What is amazing to me is that those clients who post requests on LegalMatch, even when you follow up and reply to them, don't seem to like to call back the attorney until the attorney calls them. I have found that to get the client to hire me as the attorney, I have to speak to them on the phone and reach out to them.
I am kind of semi-retired and I was really not very busy, but I didn't feel like I was done working, I guess. LegalMatch really provided me with a great opportunity to find clients that are in need of the kind of services I provide with a fixed fee. Those clients that hire me are almost always really happy with the service.
I've been very fortunate to have a five-star rating on LegalMatch and I don't pretend that that's all because of me. I think it's a lot because of LegalMatch, in terms of the way it requires postings to provide information about the potential plan and that I can be selective in the kinds of cases that I reach out to. Neither the client nor I spend unnecessary time on a matter that's not good for me to take, especially considering there are other attorneys on LegalMatch who would be better able to take that case.
I didn't have a contract with LegalMatch until April this year. I wasn't really in lockdown. The COVID 19 situation has changed the practice of law in Florida where so many things are now done electronically or by Zoom and phone calls. I know that for example, in California, many years ago, attorneys just stopped going to hearings because of the time to commute to get to the various courthouses. Attorneys in California were very accustomed to using legal Zoom or phone calls to attend hearings. Now it has become the standard here in Florida because of COVID. The judges much prefer, if it's all possible, that hearings be done by Zoom or phone call.
I like the fact that the cases are segregated into various legal disciplines and I can look at the kinds of cases that I want to take. Initially I needed more help from LegalMatch than I do now. I don't find myself in many problems today with the software or the platform because I've learned how to use it, and I've learned how best to utilize it for obtaining the clients I want to reach.
I get LegalMatch leads every day. It’s much more effective than any kind of print advertising. There’s an average of four or five cases posted a day in the areas that I'm listed in, which is probate work, wills and trusts and business formation. I look for postings in the Southern part of Florida. About one out of 10 or 20 actually can hire me to do legal work for them, but because there are so many cases that flow through, even with that conversion ratio. It provides me with sufficient work to take all the time I want to do to work every day. As a service to my clients, I take the documents to them with a notary and a witness. We can do that as part of the package right in their home. They don't have to go somewhere and find witnesses. We take care of that.
LegalMatch assists in preparing form responses to different kinds of cases that come in and that's very helpful when you respond to a post on LegalMatch. Reach out to them by phone call, get a sense of their personality, get a sense of their priorities. This enables an attorney to utilize LegalMatch in the best way possible.
I get the most out of my LegalMatch membership by contacting clients and understanding what needs to be done, telling them how much it costs with a flat fee doing the work. I was skeptical and concerned at first about the cost. For me it has been very rewarding both financially and personally in terms of being able to do legal work and helping clients. When they're very happy, that makes me happy, because I feel like I have done an important service for them.