Daeryun launches online communication program between lawyers and clients... “We will communicate flawlessly”

Enhancing customer service quality through online communication programs
CEO Kook-il Kim “Customer satisfaction is the top management task”

Daeryun Law Firm recently launched an ‘online communication program’ that allows dedicated lawyers and employees for each case to communicate with clients in real time. It is part of a policy to strengthen customer service.

Daeryun, which ranked among the top 10 law firms in Korea based on sales just 9 years after its establishment, has been focusing on ‘communication with customers’. The ‘Customer Satisfaction Center’, which has been in operation since last year, is one of the results. The reaction was also hot.

Daeryun Law Firm did not rest here. Kim Kook-il, a lawyer and CEO of the Judicial Research and Training Institute (24th class at the Judicial Research and Training Institute), said, “We have made efforts in various ways to ensure smooth communication with customers, but there were unavoidable physical limitations.” Previously, clients had to call directly to talk to a lawyer, or if the lawyer was unable to answer the phone due to a trial, interview, or consultation, they had to communicate with the team in charge.

CEO Kook-il Kim revealed the reason for launching a dedicated online communication program, saying, "I couldn't miss even the smallest gap. I wanted to provide a window where clients could connect with lawyers anytime, anywhere."

In addition, Daeryun is working hard to improve its internal system to improve the quality of legal services, such as strengthening the ‘lawyer responsibility system’. It further clarifies the scope of duties and responsibilities of lawyers surrounding case performance.

Below is a Q&A with CEO Kim Kuk-il, a lawyer.

Q. One of the hot topics in the lawyer industry this year seems to be ‘the growth of Daeryun.’ This is because it is one of the few law firms that has grown rapidly in the current legal market that has to worry about its survival. How do you evaluate Daeryun's progress over the past nine years?

CEO Kook-il Kim (hereinafter referred to as Kim): Daeryun has put forward a ‘differentiation strategy’ from the beginning of its establishment. The domestic legal market has been operated in a closed structure for a long time. First of all, visiting the law firm itself was not easy. In particular, local residents had to go directly to Seoul to use the services of large law firms. It was also difficult to obtain information surrounding the legal services provided by law firms. Daeryun wanted to destroy all of this. The establishment of branch offices throughout the country was also intended to reach customers first.

The customer service center was also created with a similar purpose. We want to improve everything without missing the stories of customers who actually used Daeryun. It seems that there has been a good response because we have been providing legal services with only the ‘consumer’ in mind.

Q. Looking at the newly established communication channel, there are some interesting points. I guess it literally means creating a group communication room between lawyers, clients, and staff in charge, right?

Kim: That’s right. Daeryun was the first large law firm to actively communicate with clients by establishing a separate customer satisfaction center and customer management team. The method was to collect all customer feedback that occurred during the service process and find ways to improve the service based on this.

Nevertheless, I thought that there might be some clients who felt inadequate. In order to communicate with lawyers, you have to make a phone call, but as lawyers are also overburdened with work, they may unintentionally lose contact with their clients.

The newly created online communication program is based on online messenger, and lawyers, staff, and clients dedicated to each case participate simultaneously. You can also check the progress of the case in real time and look into related document files. By establishing a communication channel, anyone can receive quality legal services on a regular basis if they wish. It is expected that a faster response will be possible in the event of an emergency.

Q. Please explain in detail the ‘lawyer liability system’.

Kim: Actually, the ‘lawyer liability system’ is a guideline that was established from the beginning of Daeryun’s establishment. When a case is assigned to a single department, a collegial department, a specialized group, or a special department depending on its level of difficulty, the existing method is for members of the department to work together as a team under the direction of the person in charge to handle the case.

However, the situation has changed recently as the number of clients entrusting their cases to Daeryun has increased explosively. This is because it has become realistically difficult for high-ranking management lawyers, such as representative lawyers, to directly manage all cases. As clients' expectations continue to rise, the quality of legal services needs to be further improved. To achieve this, it was necessary to refine the system once again, and responsibility management was strengthened. The scope of duties and responsibilities surrounding the overall activities required to carry out a case, such as writing documents, attending trials, and communicating with clients, has been made clearer.

Lawyers with experience as a judge, prosecutor, or police officer are no exception. Usually, it is thought that lawyers with this experience will not practice. In Daeryun, the lawyer is in charge of the actual writing process as well as the trial.

Q. What is the ultimate value that Daeryun pursues?

Kim: The market can no longer grow healthily through competition alone. In the end, aren’t legal services solving people’s problems? Therefore, consumers must be the center.

Additionally, lawyers must also have a public-interest mission. The same goes for law firms. This is especially true for larger law firms. There is a need to jointly consider ways to improve the quality of legal services and develop the domestic legal market.

Daeryun has been studying the law firm systems of advanced countries such as the United States for a long time and applying them to the domestic market. These efforts will continue in the future. We will provide quality legal services to consumers and do our best to develop the domestic legal market.

[Law Leader Reporter Son Dong-wook twson@lawleader.co.kr]

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Daeryun launches online communication program between lawyers and clients... “We will communicate flawlessly” (Go)