In the world of legal support, where timely and accurate services are crucial to the litigation process, litigation support service providers must resolve customer complaints quickly to avoid jeopardized cases, customers, and reputations.
From unclear eFiling rejections to delayed service turnaround times, there are a few common customer complaints unique to litigation support service firms.
In this article, we’ll explore effective antidotes for resolving these and more.
1. Rejected eFiling Orders With Unclear or Missing Explanations
There are few things worse than an eFiling rejection. But a rejection without an explanation? Now you have a frustrated customer.
Many reasons exist for eFiling rejections by court clerks:
- Party’s name does not match the name listed on the initial lead document
- Incorrect case type has been selected
- Incorrect document type has been selected
- Wrong case number has been listed somewhere on the filing
- Wrong court location has been selected and more.
One of the most common complaints by legal professionals when eFiling is when they receive a rejection that doesn’t include an explanation or a reason for the rejection in the status notes.
It’s well-known that attorneys and their staff work in time-sensitive, high-stress environments. They have legal matters they need to attend to, statutory deadlines to meet, and legal documents to draft, among other responsibilities. Therefore, it’s imperative that they know why their eFiling was rejected so they can quickly address it.
Antidote
To minimize this type of complaint from your customers, you can take a proactive approach by contacting LegalConnect or the court directly to obtain the reason for an eFiling rejection. Proactively working closely with your customers to reach a resolution will also yield other benefits such as greater eFiling acceptance rates and stronger client relationships. If you’re filing in Los Angeles County, be sure to check out our training webinar for Los Angeles Civil eFiling Requirements. |
2. Rejected eFilings Due to Missing Fees
Another common complaint by legal professionals is regarding a fee misstep by the user in an eFiling order that causes the court to reject the eFiling. Let’s explain:
In these cases, your customers may not have added a fee to their order and simply selected your company to advance court fees.
When they select the ‘advance court fees’ option, they only authorize your company to advance the fees to the court. They are not actually adding the document fee to the order.
Antidote
You can resolve this issue by showing your customers how to select the document type with the correct fee or show them where they can add it on the ‘court fees’ tab (see below). Figure 1 depicts the Court Fees tab for a motion, which is a typical order. The motion fee is $60.00 but if the motion requires a hearing then a court reporter will be required; incurring an additional $30.00 fee Figure 1 Figure 2 depicts the dropdown of the “Additional” court fees that the court has to offer. Figure 2 If your customers are unsure about which fee to select for their document type, they can save their eFiling as a draft and have someone from your customer support team review it and assist them Having a designated team to train and support customers will not only minimize future eFiling rejections, but it will also elevate the customer’s experience with your portal and organization. Watch this video to learn more about the Court Filing Fees & Deliverables Tabs. |
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3. Delayed or Slow Turnaround Times for Conformed Copies
A third common complaint in the legal support space? Courts taking weeks or months to provide court-stamped copies back to the law firm.
Antidote
When this issue arises, proactive communication is key. Transparency and prompt communication informing your clients of the expected review date of their filing will yield dividends. Something as simple as: “The court is currently working on filings from two weeks ago, so we expect your filing to be reviewed in about two weeks.” When you inform them, they can inform their clients. Informing your customers about delays in the court’s own process takes some of the responsibility off your shoulders and sets clear expectations for when they can expect their conformed copies. |
Use These Antidotes to Delight Your Customers
There you have it. Antidotes to remedy some common customer grievances experienced by legal support service providers.
When it comes to customer complaints, solve them promptly, correctly, and with alacrity, and see your unhappy customer turn into your biggest fan.
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