Expectations are changing. As access to information becomes faster and easier, clients are becoming less tolerant of delays - including waiting days for a lawyer to respond. This shift highlights a growing need for tools and processes that give people clarity and momentum, without unnecessary waiting.
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I just came off a call with a group of family lawyers and they were talking about something I hadn't thought about before.
They've noticed that clients are getting less tolerant of waiting for lawyers to get back to them.
They said there's been a shift over the last year that clients get frustrated when they're waiting for a call back or an email.
We’re now living in a world where you can ask quite detailed questions online and get an answer instantly. Not a perfect answer, but a useful one. Enough to move forward. Enough to feel like you’re not stuck.
That changes expectations.
They felt that it's not that people suddenly don’t respect lawyers or the work they do. It’s that the rest of their life doesn’t operate on multi-day delays anymore.
So when they’re in the middle of something stressful like a dispute, a separation, a situation where they need clarity - waiting feels heavier than it used to.
I was reflecting on it after the call. I think they just want to know that the lawyer is doing something, that there is momentum, and that someone with expertise is thinking about or making decisions on their case.
This is where I think things are changing most. People don’t just want expertise. They want progress.
They want to be able to do something while they wait.
Gather their information. Organise their evidence. Get clear on what’s actually happened.
Not perfectly, just enough.
Because once that’s done, the conversation with a lawyer becomes faster, clearer, and more useful. And the whole process moves forward more easily.
This isn’t about replacing lawyers.
Because when you’re in the middle of something hard, even a small sense of progress can make a big difference.
