How I Recovered From A Bad Online Review About My Solo Law Practice

By Law Firm Suites - December 17, 2014
How I Recovered From A Bad Online Review About My Solo Law Practice

This week in Things I Wish I Knew, attorney Joleena Louis, gets blindsided by a bad online review about her solo law practice, and takes steps to recover.

My heart sank as I read it. I could not believe it was real. And I could not believe this particular person wrote it.

It was a bad online review from a client, and my feelings were hurt.

I take great pride in providing the best service possible. In family law you really get to know the intimate details of your clients’ life and genuinely take an interest in the outcome of their matter (at least I do).

This was particularly confusing to me because this client never complained to me directly and I did not know they were unhappy with my representation.

This client didn’t get the outcome they wanted. This was something they knew was a possibility because I make every effort to warn clients about possible outcomes, as I did with this one.

Not only was this a bad review, it was the only review about my practice on this particular site. I had to act fast to rectify the situation.

My heart sank as I read a bad review left by a client #WoesOfASoloAttorney Click To Tweet

I Reached Out to the Client

Once I got over my surprise and hurt feelings, I reached out to the client.  I apologized, and though I disagreed with the points he made in his review, I let him know I was sorry he felt that way.

I Looked for Ways to Improve

Next, I reread his comments to look for ways to improve. I realized I needed to figure out a way to get ongoing client feedback. This way, if a client feels there is something I need to be doing better, I can address it right away.

I cannot rely on them to tell me without prompting. I also think I need to do a better job of managing expectations about outcomes.

I Asked Happy Clients to Write Reviews

I have never asked clients to write reviews. Most of my clients are happy and send me referrals.

I reached out to former happy clients to write reviews and am working on a system to make it easy for clients to leave reviews at the end of their cases.

I Wasn’t Too Hard on Myself

Once I calmed down I realized that no matter how hard I try, not everyone is going to be happy. All I can do is continue to give the best service possible and learn from my mistakes.

About Law Firm Suites

Law Firm Suites is the leading NYC shared office space for solo attorneys and small law firms. At Law Firm Suites, attorneys get headache free sublet office space, virtual office rentals and litigation hotel services. Law Firm Suites has two locations in Manhattan, one in White Plains NY, and one in Annapolis MD. Law Firm Suites' community of self-employed lawyers are eager to help colleagues succeed, and routinely exchange over $2.5 million in legal business every year in each LFS business center. Connect with Law Firm Suites on Twitter and .

3 thoughts on “How I Recovered From A Bad Online Review About My Solo Law Practice

  1. Hanan Isaacs
    on said:

    Joleena’s experience is not unique among small firm practitioners and her suggested action steps are helpful if general. A former client systematically went after me via online attorney reviews that were unfair and potentially damaging. It took us years and a variety of strategies to contain and reverse what he did. In a competitove legal market, ignoring the problem is not an option.

    • Thanks for your comment. It seems that solos in practice areas that are highly emotionally charged, like matrimonial, need to have a plan in place to deal with negative reviews when the outcome is not what the client hoped for (whether reasonable or not). It’s inevitable the you’ll get them. What do you think?

  2. Pingback: How This Lawyer Recovered From A Bad Review - LawMarketing.com - The Premier Resource For Information on the Business of Law

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