How should a firm handle an out-of-area legal enquiry?

Enquiries outside a firm's practice areas arrive constantly and are usually handled by not handling them. That is understandable and it carries a specific risk that has nothing to do with courtesy. A person who has described their problem to a law firm and heard nothing may reasonably believe the matter is being considered, and where a time limit is running, that belief is expensive for them and potentially for the firm.

The response therefore needs to be prompt and unambiguous rather than merely polite. It should state that the firm is not able to act, that no lawyer-client relationship has been formed, and — critically — that they should seek advice elsewhere promptly because time limits may apply. That last clause is the one most often omitted and the one that matters most, because it addresses the actual harm without giving advice about their specific position.

The line between that and advice is worth drawing precisely, because it is easy to cross while being helpful. Saying that time limits may apply to matters of this general type is a statement about the legal landscape. Saying how long they have, or whether their claim is likely to succeed, is advice — and giving it in a decline creates exactly the relationship the letter says does not exist. Keep it general and keep it short.

Referring well is where the value is and it needs the same care as referring anywhere. A referral is the firm's credibility lent to somebody else, and in a legal context an unsuitable one has consequences beyond the relationship. Refer to firms you know handle that work; where you do not know anyone, saying so and pointing at the bar association's referral service or the relevant public directory is genuinely useful and carries none of the risk.

The reciprocal benefit is real and is the reason this is worth systematising rather than treating case by case. Firms that receive good referrals send them, and the areas you decline are precisely the areas whose practitioners receive enquiries belonging to you. A handful of these relationships produces better-qualified work than most acquisition spending, and they are built by handling declines well over a period rather than by any arrangement.

One record-keeping point. A declined enquiry should be logged with the date, what was said and to whom it was referred. That is a small discipline that answers a later question about what the firm knew and when, and it also produces the pattern data — how many enquiries in which areas — that tells a firm whether a practice area it does not have is one it should consider.