Intake-Desk Pattern

The Back-Seat Agent

Waits for the attorney to close the consultation. One of the 13 R2R archetypes, as it shows up on a law firm intake desk.

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This is one of the 13 R2R archetypes. The R2R definition: Defers authority to the client. On a law firm intake desk it shows up as described below. The full archetype is on jeffreyscottstanton.com, and all 13 are on the 13 archetypes page.

What it sounds like

"The attorney will go over all of that. She is great at explaining things."

The call it loses: Value and the ask. The caller gets nothing concrete to say yes to.

Why it persists

Respect for the attorney's expertise and the boundary. Overused, it hands off things that are not legal at all, such as the fee.

It is not a character flaw and not a lack of training. It is a strength that fires at the wrong moment, and it can be named, scored and coached.

Scorecard items it tends to skip

Value stated in the caller's reasons. Fee stated plainly. No legal evaluation or outcome language.

The 14-item card is on the call-review scorecard page.

How to coach it

Teach which questions are the attorney's and which are not. Practice answering the fee and process questions fully. Keep the hand-off line for the legal ones.

The R2R Assessment shows which of the 13 archetypes a person runs before the first call is scored, so the coaching goes to the right moment first. See all six patterns.

Scope, plainly: everything on this site concerns the conversation that turns an inquiry into an engagement. Nothing here is legal advice, nothing touches the legal work or the attorney's judgment, and any wording a firm adopts is reviewed by the firm against its jurisdiction's rules on attorney advertising, solicitation and fee communication before it is used.

About the Author

Dr. Jeffrey Scott Stanton, DCH is a behavioral strategist and the founder and Chief Learning Officer of R2R Diagnostic Group. He is the former EVP of Learning & Development at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, where he trained sales professionals on the conversations that turn an inquiry into a commitment. He applies the same method, the R2R Assessment and a 14-item call-review scorecard, to law firm intake teams. The work is the conversation only; legal questions and judgment stay with the attorney.

The method, the scripts and the scorecard are on how it works, the script template and the scorecard guide.

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Which pattern is on your desk?

Send a handful of calls and get a scored review by person, with the pattern behind each.

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