Article by Walter W. Kubitz, KC, a personal injury lawyer in Calgary, Alberta.

I have been a lawyer for 37 years and recently had a discussion with another top tier personal injury plaintiff lawyer who was “feeling in the dumps” because he had far less files than another plaintiff lawyer was bragging about having 700 files using 3 to 4 staff members. That is about 175 to 233 files per legal assistant. This is what I call a “Whiplash Mill”.

Assuming that each assistant has 175 files, then this means that each client would get on average 50 minutes per month of work on their file from the assistant. A complaint about Whiplash Mills is that the file gets passed around from lawyer to lawyer, and from assistant to assistant. Some clients never know who “their” lawyer or assistant is at any given time.

I tend to run 60 to 70 files as I try to avoid the minor claims. My estimate is that up to 80 files is ideal, and anything over 100 files is a very busy load for a plaintiff lawyer or an assistant. So, when choosing a firm, ask:

1. How many files does this lawyer run?
2. How many assistants help him on the files?
3. Will this lawyer have carriage of your file, or will it be passed on to one or more juniors?
4. How often will you meet with your lawyer for updates? (In my view, once every two to three months is ideal to keep on top of developments).

In closing, a lawyer-client relationship is more than who has the slickest advertising campaign. The quality of the relationship between the client and the lawyer is far more important.