EP 32: Catastrophic Comebacks Begin with the Intake Process (Part 2)

Welcome to the catastrophic comeback podcast with American Injury Lawyer Clark speaks, helping you find hope, purpose and joy after a catastrophic injury.

Well, so I can imagine that that's important. For a couple of reasons. One of the things that I think that sticks out to me is that I don't think people like to call attorneys offices or law offices. And I mean, we we work in it. So we I think we've sort of I don't, I don't think it's a scary place or a judgmental place or people are, we know that people aren't, the people aren't, they're jerks, or whatever. But if you see on TV, or reading books, or magazines, or whatever, you might have this conception that I'm going to I don't want to call they're, they're going to judge me, they're going to they're going to, you know, be too busy or whatever. And so it doesn't sound like to me that that's the situation that you're describing at all. No,

it's not. And I absolutely know what you mean, because I don't have a lot of experience around attorneys and law enforcement. I mean, I say that, but I and in the private investigation, I did work for attorneys. But it was I guess, it was just different, in a sense. But I know what you're saying about preconceived notions when it comes to attorneys, and I've been so so pleasantly just surprised at how wonderful everybody is at speaks law firm, it is truly like a family,

or in in I guess, for people that aren't necessarily going to be clients of ours. What the takeaway from this probably is, is what if, let's say somebody's in, you know, another state is outside of North or South Carolina, and they're in a different state. And they're what it sounds like, to me that you're describing is, within a few minutes on the phone with with a person talking to them about an injury, a catastrophic injury, where you've been really hurt, or seriously injured. It seems like you should get a feeling these people are here to help me and these people can are people I can talk to, is that fair?

I would think that's fair, I think that initial intake conversation should tell a person a lot about, you know, who they're thinking about hiring and that sort of thing. I feel like if the initial person that's talking to you, is basically only focusing on the details, and not who you are and what you've been through. I think that speaks volumes. Because, you know, I know that I know that that's important to you is, who your intake people are and how we handle our clients and that sort of thing. So I do think that's, that's very important. Well,

so as you're talking to me, I gotta, I gotta admit, there have been times, you know, so or earlier in my career, we were smaller, right? And so I might be, I might do the intakes myself, 20 years ago, or whatever, and so, and when so when I would do that, you know, the first time you hear somebody's story about it, then you then it does, you do sort of, you know, if you're an empathetic person, if you're a people person, if you're somebody who wants to help somebody, it is it is easy to sort of, tell me about this and tell me about, you know, tell me the details, and how do you feel in all this, as you've done it longer and longer and longer? And then, you know, early in the conversation, you know, the information you need, right? You know, exactly, okay, I don't need all of this, I just need this little piece right here. I have found myself on occasion, interrupting people and saying, Alright, well tell me about this. One thing that I need, I really need to know about, you know, how do you balance getting the details that you need to do your job with, at the same time, letting people make it making people understand that you really are there for them and you care about them and you want to do a good job for?

Well, occasionally, you do have that one person that you have gone over, you know what happened to them, and you have written down your details, just like you said, and they are still just really upset. And it's, it is a very fine balance between needing to move on. I like to talk to the person and say, okay, you know, Mr. Brown, I absolutely feel like we can help you. The quicker that we can get you in here and get these paper signs, the quicker that we can jump on your case and help you out. So let's go ahead and do that. So that I'll kind of interject with let's get you in here and let's make that appointment. Because as you know, when we're on the phone, you know, we don't do all our intake on the phone. So you know we do our initial and then we try to get a man to sign paperwork. So I try to point out that the faster we can get this going, the faster we can get you in and that sort of thing, the faster we can help you.

So with respect, so you mentioned that we can get him in for paperwork, or so we do the initial on the phone. Let me ask you this, we do, do we do everything in paperwork or my experiences, we can do what we could do we do a lot of the stuff over the internet. Is that right?

The intake? Yeah, like in other words,

we could do DocuSign, that sort of

thing. Yeah, we do that for our initial fee agreement. But there's other things that need to be notarized. And I feel like people in general want to come and see people face to face. I mean, this is a big deal. So they want to see who they're talking to, they want to see, you know, you know, who who is actually, you know, going to have my back, and they want to come in. So

what I'm what I'm just saying, what I'm saying is if somebody can't come in? Oh, absolutely. Somebody is, then I mean, that's kind of what the investigators are.

That's what that's exactly what they're for. Well,

that's, I guess that's the first step before they're also for funding coverage and for undocumented getting evidence evidence secured, right. So now that we are bringing investigators into the conversation, can you talk to me about, you know, the relationships you have with the other people in the intake team, which I think would include other intake specialists, but then also in tech support, and then also investigation? Can you talk to him about the relationships you have with those people. And while those relationships are important,

I think anytime you work closely with people, it's important to your daily well being. I know that I have had situations in the past where it wasn't so copacetic as it is now and it just makes your job seem more difficult. Everyone I work with honestly, honestly, everyone I work with is just flows so beautifully. And I think a lot of that just completely be honest with you, Clark is that I just don't see a lot of egos where I work. I mean, everyone is so down to earth, everyone is truly there to do the best job that they can and help everybody out. And it just flows so nicely. We just work so great together, everybody is here for each other. Everyone is always saying, if you need help on this, or you need this, let me know, everyone is available to help you. Why

is it important that the that the intake people need to be able to work well together? Or that the intake people need to be able to work well with the investigators? Well,

I think that, you know, as far as being able to work well together, we get a lot of overlap, that I'm kind of just now seeing to be honest with you. Sometimes, you know, Tracy has called someone and they call back and I get them. And we're not sure you know, is this, have you started this intake? Or have I started this intake, that sort of thing. So communication is very important. And we do all we communicate all day long about who we have, you know, who needs to be called back and all of that. And then our private investigators or our investigators, you know, they are not in the office a lot. But we're always communicating via text and making sure that they have what they need to be able to do their job. That's important. And they know that if they don't, they just ask us and you know, we're happy to do whatever, but we try to just make sure they have everything they need to go out and do the investigation that there is to do so it sounds

like to me that in order for them to do their job efficiently and effectively. And for you to do your job efficiently and effectively. Everybody has to have the same goal, which is to take care of the client, right. And everybody has to put have a client centered focus instead of an ego centered focus.

Exactly. And that's something that we seem to have going on there because everybody is client focused. But then yet we take care of each other. And I love that. Yeah, well,

and then it seems like to me that that's a that's essential in order to communicate about the things that need to be that we need to communicate about in order to make sure that we do respond quickly that we do respond, empathetically, that we do get the details and preserve the documentation and the evidence and those kinds of things that we need to to do. And so, so then what would you say to somebody who is I mean this whether they're in North Carolina or they're somewhere else or they're in South Carolina, they're in California, wherever, if they're catastrophic Blanchard in their, in their, in their calling law firm and they and they, they they dial the number somebody answers the phone, what should they be looking for? What questions should they be asking? What should they be considering and selecting and saying, Alright, these are the these are the people that I want to have helped me.

Okay, so if someone from somewhere else is calling in and speaking to an intake counselor or an intake coordinator, I think the most important thing is for that person to listen to them. Listening is pretty big, I think in communication, you have to just let them talk and tell you what's going on. And if they if they are patient with them. And I'm not sure like how to put this, but I don't know how you really show empathy over the phone. But you can kind of feel it right, you can feel it. And if they ask you. So I had this one young man call us recently, and his daughter had been playing out in the yard and she had kind of been going out into the street, it wasn't like a big busy street, it was like a neighborhood street. And someone in a vehicle was not paying attention. And they ran over. And when I found out that this was a little girl, because he kept talking about his daughter being hit by a car. And for some reason I had in my mind that she was older. But then I found out she was three. I mean, my reaction was just, I was stunned. And I was just like, oh my gosh, she's three years old. And that was just my natural reaction. I was just, I was overwhelmed. Because this little girl had been hit, basically run over by a car. But it's just that natural reaction that I think people say understand, hey, you know, Stacy's just a regular person too. And she understands and she cares. And she's as outraged as I am. And as upset because I was I was very upset at this. The thoughts of that happening is just awful. So I think those type of things, if you just allow yourself to be just a regular person, instead of just someone who's supposed to sit there and take down the details, you know, I think that people can just pick up on that naturally, you know, I think it's pretty easy, or at least it is for me, if you're calling somebody, either they seem like they care or they don't.

So if somebody is from a different state, or whatever were to call us and say, Hey, this is I have this catastrophic injury. Here's what's going on. It sounds like we could probably, and I think this is probably the case, tell me what you think we could probably talk to them. And if we can't help them, we can probably help them figure out find somebody who can. Absolutely, absolutely. And we would just from my perspective, I mean, I can I mean, I can go through just about every state, in my mind just sitting here and think. Yeah, I know somebody that trust and can take care of a catastrophic injured people person in this state in this state in this state in this state in this state. And just about every state in the United States. Alaska is the one that I wouldn't that comes to mind that I but I know a guy from Alaska is who's in Utah, and I would call him and say, who's my guy in Alaska that I can really trust to take care of this person? Yeah. So. Okay, Stacy. I think those are all the questions I have for you. Thank you so much for being here, and I appreciate it.

Yep. Thank you for everything.

Thank you for joining us, and we'll see you next time.

Welcome to the catastrophic comeback podcast with American Injury Lawyer Clark speaks, helping you find hope, purpose and joy after a catastrophic injury.

Well, so I can imagine that that's important. For a couple of reasons. One of the things that I think that sticks out to me is that I don't think people like to call attorneys offices or law offices. And I mean, we we work in it. So we I think we've sort of I don't, I don't think it's a scary place or a judgmental place or people are, we know that people aren't, the people aren't, they're jerks, or whatever. But if you see on TV, or reading books, or magazines, or whatever, you might have this conception that I'm going to I don't want to call they're, they're going to judge me, they're going to they're going to, you know, be too busy or whatever. And so it doesn't sound like to me that that's the situation that you're describing at all. No,

it's not. And I absolutely know what you mean, because I don't have a lot of experience around attorneys and law enforcement. I mean, I say that, but I and in the private investigation, I did work for attorneys. But it was I guess, it was just different, in a sense. But I know what you're saying about preconceived notions when it comes to attorneys, and I've been so so pleasantly just surprised at how wonderful everybody is at speaks law firm, it is truly like a family,

or in in I guess, for people that aren't necessarily going to be clients of ours. What the takeaway from this probably is, is what if, let's say somebody's in, you know, another state is outside of North or South Carolina, and they're in a different state. And they're what it sounds like, to me that you're describing is, within a few minutes on the phone with with a person talking to them about an injury, a catastrophic injury, where you've been really hurt, or seriously injured. It seems like you should get a feeling these people are here to help me and these people can are people I can talk to, is that fair?

I would think that's fair, I think that initial intake conversation should tell a person a lot about, you know, who they're thinking about hiring and that sort of thing. I feel like if the initial person that's talking to you, is basically only focusing on the details, and not who you are and what you've been through. I think that speaks volumes. Because, you know, I know that I know that that's important to you is, who your intake people are and how we handle our clients and that sort of thing. So I do think that's, that's very important. Well,

so as you're talking to me, I gotta, I gotta admit, there have been times, you know, so or earlier in my career, we were smaller, right? And so I might be, I might do the intakes myself, 20 years ago, or whatever, and so, and when so when I would do that, you know, the first time you hear somebody's story about it, then you then it does, you do sort of, you know, if you're an empathetic person, if you're a people person, if you're somebody who wants to help somebody, it is it is easy to sort of, tell me about this and tell me about, you know, tell me the details, and how do you feel in all this, as you've done it longer and longer and longer? And then, you know, early in the conversation, you know, the information you need, right? You know, exactly, okay, I don't need all of this, I just need this little piece right here. I have found myself on occasion, interrupting people and saying, Alright, well tell me about this. One thing that I need, I really need to know about, you know, how do you balance getting the details that you need to do your job with, at the same time, letting people make it making people understand that you really are there for them and you care about them and you want to do a good job for?

Well, occasionally, you do have that one person that you have gone over, you know what happened to them, and you have written down your details, just like you said, and they are still just really upset. And it's, it is a very fine balance between needing to move on. I like to talk to the person and say, okay, you know, Mr. Brown, I absolutely feel like we can help you. The quicker that we can get you in here and get these paper signs, the quicker that we can jump on your case and help you out. So let's go ahead and do that. So that I'll kind of interject with let's get you in here and let's make that appointment. Because as you know, when we're on the phone, you know, we don't do all our intake on the phone. So you know we do our initial and then we try to get a man to sign paperwork. So I try to point out that the faster we can get this going, the faster we can get you in and that sort of thing, the faster we can help you.

So with respect, so you mentioned that we can get him in for paperwork, or so we do the initial on the phone. Let me ask you this, we do, do we do everything in paperwork or my experiences, we can do what we could do we do a lot of the stuff over the internet. Is that right?

The intake? Yeah, like in other words,

we could do DocuSign, that sort of

thing. Yeah, we do that for our initial fee agreement. But there's other things that need to be notarized. And I feel like people in general want to come and see people face to face. I mean, this is a big deal. So they want to see who they're talking to, they want to see, you know, you know, who who is actually, you know, going to have my back, and they want to come in. So

what I'm what I'm just saying, what I'm saying is if somebody can't come in? Oh, absolutely. Somebody is, then I mean, that's kind of what the investigators are.

That's what that's exactly what they're for. Well,

that's, I guess that's the first step before they're also for funding coverage and for undocumented getting evidence evidence secured, right. So now that we are bringing investigators into the conversation, can you talk to me about, you know, the relationships you have with the other people in the intake team, which I think would include other intake specialists, but then also in tech support, and then also investigation? Can you talk to him about the relationships you have with those people. And while those relationships are important,

I think anytime you work closely with people, it's important to your daily well being. I know that I have had situations in the past where it wasn't so copacetic as it is now and it just makes your job seem more difficult. Everyone I work with honestly, honestly, everyone I work with is just flows so beautifully. And I think a lot of that just completely be honest with you, Clark is that I just don't see a lot of egos where I work. I mean, everyone is so down to earth, everyone is truly there to do the best job that they can and help everybody out. And it just flows so nicely. We just work so great together, everybody is here for each other. Everyone is always saying, if you need help on this, or you need this, let me know, everyone is available to help you. Why

is it important that the that the intake people need to be able to work well together? Or that the intake people need to be able to work well with the investigators? Well,

I think that, you know, as far as being able to work well together, we get a lot of overlap, that I'm kind of just now seeing to be honest with you. Sometimes, you know, Tracy has called someone and they call back and I get them. And we're not sure you know, is this, have you started this intake? Or have I started this intake, that sort of thing. So communication is very important. And we do all we communicate all day long about who we have, you know, who needs to be called back and all of that. And then our private investigators or our investigators, you know, they are not in the office a lot. But we're always communicating via text and making sure that they have what they need to be able to do their job. That's important. And they know that if they don't, they just ask us and you know, we're happy to do whatever, but we try to just make sure they have everything they need to go out and do the investigation that there is to do so it sounds

like to me that in order for them to do their job efficiently and effectively. And for you to do your job efficiently and effectively. Everybody has to have the same goal, which is to take care of the client, right. And everybody has to put have a client centered focus instead of an ego centered focus.

Exactly. And that's something that we seem to have going on there because everybody is client focused. But then yet we take care of each other. And I love that. Yeah, well,

and then it seems like to me that that's a that's essential in order to communicate about the things that need to be that we need to communicate about in order to make sure that we do respond quickly that we do respond, empathetically, that we do get the details and preserve the documentation and the evidence and those kinds of things that we need to to do. And so, so then what would you say to somebody who is I mean this whether they're in North Carolina or they're somewhere else or they're in South Carolina, they're in California, wherever, if they're catastrophic Blanchard in their, in their, in their calling law firm and they and they, they they dial the number somebody answers the phone, what should they be looking for? What questions should they be asking? What should they be considering and selecting and saying, Alright, these are the these are the people that I want to have helped me.

Okay, so if someone from somewhere else is calling in and speaking to an intake counselor or an intake coordinator, I think the most important thing is for that person to listen to them. Listening is pretty big, I think in communication, you have to just let them talk and tell you what's going on. And if they if they are patient with them. And I'm not sure like how to put this, but I don't know how you really show empathy over the phone. But you can kind of feel it right, you can feel it. And if they ask you. So I had this one young man call us recently, and his daughter had been playing out in the yard and she had kind of been going out into the street, it wasn't like a big busy street, it was like a neighborhood street. And someone in a vehicle was not paying attention. And they ran over. And when I found out that this was a little girl, because he kept talking about his daughter being hit by a car. And for some reason I had in my mind that she was older. But then I found out she was three. I mean, my reaction was just, I was stunned. And I was just like, oh my gosh, she's three years old. And that was just my natural reaction. I was just, I was overwhelmed. Because this little girl had been hit, basically run over by a car. But it's just that natural reaction that I think people say understand, hey, you know, Stacy's just a regular person too. And she understands and she cares. And she's as outraged as I am. And as upset because I was I was very upset at this. The thoughts of that happening is just awful. So I think those type of things, if you just allow yourself to be just a regular person, instead of just someone who's supposed to sit there and take down the details, you know, I think that people can just pick up on that naturally, you know, I think it's pretty easy, or at least it is for me, if you're calling somebody, either they seem like they care or they don't.

So if somebody is from a different state, or whatever were to call us and say, Hey, this is I have this catastrophic injury. Here's what's going on. It sounds like we could probably, and I think this is probably the case, tell me what you think we could probably talk to them. And if we can't help them, we can probably help them figure out find somebody who can. Absolutely, absolutely. And we would just from my perspective, I mean, I can I mean, I can go through just about every state, in my mind just sitting here and think. Yeah, I know somebody that trust and can take care of a catastrophic injured people person in this state in this state in this state in this state in this state. And just about every state in the United States. Alaska is the one that I wouldn't that comes to mind that I but I know a guy from Alaska is who's in Utah, and I would call him and say, who's my guy in Alaska that I can really trust to take care of this person? Yeah. So. Okay, Stacy. I think those are all the questions I have for you. Thank you so much for being here, and I appreciate it.

Yep. Thank you for everything.

Thank you for joining us, and we'll see you next time.