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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style="word-wrap:break-word"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Never had that problem with attorneys here in Thurston County; maybe you should move south. </span><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">đ</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Sincerely,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Tom</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Thomas J. Westbrook</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d">Attorney at Law</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"><img width="152" height="62" style="width:1.5833in;height:.6416in" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D96497.4D3B1FE0"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;color:#1f497d">324 West Bay Drive NW, Suite 201</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;color:#1f497d">Olympia, WA 98502</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;color:#1f497d">(360) 866-4000 phone</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;color:#1f497d">(360) 866--3832 fax</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;color:#1f497d"><a href="http://www.buddbaylaw.com/"><span style="color:blue">www.buddbaylaw.com</span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:red">COVID POLICY:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="color:#1f497d">Our firm continues to follow guidance from the CDC and Governor Insleeâs office regarding social distancing and the wearing of face coverings, and we encourage the public and our clients to do the same. Our staff is still working remotely much of the time so electronic communication by phone and email continues to be encouraged. We appreciate your patience and understanding.</span></i><span style="color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #e1e1e1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a> <<a href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Roger Hawkes<br><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, April 01, 2023 12:21 PM<br><b>To:</b> WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <<a href="mailto:wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [WSBAPT] Returning calls</p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">To each her own; but I always call back to callers who say they are lawyers, especially ones whose names are known to me.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #e1e1e1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a> <<a href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Eric Nelsen<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, March 31, 2023 5:30 PM<br><b>To:</b> WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <<a href="mailto:wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [WSBAPT] Returning calls</p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Iâm talking about lawyers not calling <b><i>me</i></b> back. My voicemails donât sound like Iâm off my nut (I hope). Also, if you get a call from me on a referral, Iâve already vetted the potential client past that point. I try not to refer the crazies to specific lawyers.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Maybe you get a lot of the truly tinfoil-hat callsâthe âneed to sue the CIA because theyâre shooting lasers into my brainâ kind. Iâve had those occasionally, and I sometimes donât call back if it seems dangerous to even engage. But more often than not, even if I get a somewhat crazy-sounding call, the person is sounding odd because theyâre in genuine distress and trying to figure out a problem they donât fully understand, and once I can identify which area of law theyâre really having a problem in, I can get them oriented and send them on to an attorney who might actually be able to help.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Iâm not saying everybody has to do that; thatâs my choice and I probably burn a bit more time than most lawyers in âdeveloping leads,â as the marketing people say, that donât pan out.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">But increasingly over the years and a lot in recent weeks, I have had perfectly nice people call me, seem totally normal and having an ordinary issue like a boundary dispute or whatever, and they are practically kissing my feet with gratitude that I gave them the minimum courtesy of a call back. It offends my sense of humanity to have people feeling grateful to me for such a basic courtesy. Even if I canât help them, a call back to say âSorry, I canât help youâ at least gives them acknowledgment as people, worthy of my respect and courtesy.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><p class="MsoNormal">Sincerely,</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Eric</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Eric C. Nelsen</p><p class="MsoNormal">Sayre Law Offices, PLLC</p><p class="MsoNormal">1417 31st Ave South</p><p class="MsoNormal">Seattle WA 98144-3909</p><p class="MsoNormal">206-625-0092</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:eric@sayrelawoffices.com">eric@sayrelawoffices.com</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background:aqua">Covid-19 Update - </span></b>All attorneys are working remotely during regular business hours and are available via email and by phone. Videoconferencing also is available. Signing of estate planning documents can be completed and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Please direct mail and deliveries to the Seattle office.</p></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #e1e1e1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a> <<a href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Roger Hawkes<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, March 31, 2023 4:51 PM<br><b>To:</b> WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <<a href="mailto:wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [WSBAPT] Returning calls</p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Eric: squelching your rant a bit: many callers to me are just fishing for free advice; man donât have a clue whether I practice in the area they need. If I can tell that from their message, or deduce from the content or tone of their message that I wonât take the âcaseâ, then I mostly donât call them back. I am one of the most courteous of the lawyers you know, but I choose not to waste time or encourage rabid callers, when I have information that I canât or wonât help them anyway.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #e1e1e1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a> <<a href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Eric Nelsen<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, March 31, 2023 4:28 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv' <<a href="mailto:wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> [WSBAPT] Returning calls</p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Can I just rant a minute?</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I am going through a really lengthy spate of leaving messages for various other attorneys, trying to refer cases to them or talk to them about their availability, and never getting a call back. Leave a voicemail, even talk to an individual who promises to call back, and then nothing. For a week or longer.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I have also fielded a half-dozen calls from potential clients just in the last week or so, who have fallen all over themselves just to thank me for merely calling them back. Most tell me that theyâve left messages for four, five, six other attorneys and NOBODY calls them back.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Are people thinking this is the standard of practice? If so Iâm setting down my position now, that itâs not acceptable and it doesnât meet basic professional standards. Ghosting seems to be the thing now socially, but as professional behavior I just find it incomprehensibly discourteous, either to a potential client or to another lawyer. I can understand the occasional missed call or delayed reponse but it is happening far, far, too often to be just that.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Maybe itâs not expressly in the ethics rules but I donât care: Answer your calls and if you say youâll call somebody back, do it. Even just to tell me that youâre swamped and canât help, sorry. At least then I know to go elsewhere and donât waste time waiting, thinking that a lawyer, whose business presumably depends upon (an appearance of) reliability and diligence, âof courseâ will call me back.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">End of rant. Almost all my colleagues in law are great, and are diligent and responsive and a pleasure to work with. This is not about the majority of lawyers. Happy Friday yâall.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Sincerely,</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Eric</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Eric C. Nelsen</p><p class="MsoNormal">Sayre Law Offices, PLLC</p><p class="MsoNormal">1417 31st Ave South</p><p class="MsoNormal">Seattle WA 98144-3909</p><p class="MsoNormal">206-625-0092</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:eric@sayrelawoffices.com">eric@sayrelawoffices.com</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background:aqua">Covid-19 Update - </span></b>All attorneys are working remotely during regular business hours and are available via email and by phone. Videoconferencing also is available. Signing of estate planning documents can be completed and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Please direct mail and deliveries to the Seattle office.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></body></html>