My Lawyer Wants Me to Talk to Her Paralegal
I have a pending personal injury case. My lawyer is often on the phone when I call and my call is forwarded to her paralegal. I don't want to talk to the paralegal - I want to talk to my lawyer. The paralegal is helpful and can usually my question, but I would rather speak to the person I hired. What should I do?
You didn't hire a lawyer, you hired a law firm. In our firm a team of people works together to help every client. The paralegal is an important part of the team.
Our law firm's paralegals are very involved in the case. They help us communicate with clients and do many other important tasks.
Lawyers - especially very good lawyers - tend to be very busy. Getting a lawyer on the phone is difficult because he or she spends a significant amount of each day on the phone helping clients. That is why our firm and other firms hire and train good paralegals on how to respond to most client questions - we want our clients to have their concerns addressed promptly and not have to wait for the lawyer to have time to be able to return the call.
My guess is that the paralegal you are speaking to has been trained to seek the knowledge of the lawyer if you ask a question that he or she does not know the answer to. Thus, I recommend that you continue to talk with the paralegal and appreciate the fact that the lawyer cares enough about her clients that she employs and trains good people to assist her in representing you.
