1. Walk me through what happens after a potential client says yes in a consultation. What are the exact steps between that moment and a signed retainer agreement?

Describe the sequence as if you were showing a new hire: who does what, in what order, and using which tools. Include where the fee amount is decided, who drafts the agreement, and how it gets to the client.

2. How do you determine the flat fee for a given case, and who has the authority to set or adjust it?

 Give a specific example of a recent case where the fee was set. Walk through any internal conversation, lookup, or judgment call involved.

3. Describe the last time a retainer agreement had to be corrected or resent. What went wrong, and what did recovery look like?

Think about typos in client emails, incorrect fee amounts, DocuSign failures, or anything that caused a delay between the client saying yes and the agreement being fully executed.

4. Once a retainer is signed, what triggers the case to actually begin? Who opens the file, who assigns the legal assistant, and how does the attorney learn that a new case is ready?

Trace the handoff from signed agreement to first task assigned. Note any gaps where the case sits waiting for someone to act.

5. How do you handle payment collection on flat-fee cases, and what happens when a client falls behind or disputes the fee?

 Describe the payment schedule, who monitors it, what tools track it, and how conversations about outstanding balances typically go.

6. If you could fix one thing about the retainer and engagement process that would make your daily work easier, what would it be and why?

Be specific. Name the tool, the step, the person, or the moment where friction is highest for you personally.

1. Pick a case type you handle most often and walk me through its lifecycle from the moment the file is opened to the moment it is closed and archived.

Name every stage the case passes through, who is responsible at each stage, and what has to happen before the case can move to the next one. Be as granular as you can.

2. Where do cases most commonly get stuck, and what is usually the reason?

Think about the last three to five cases that took longer than expected. Was it waiting on the client, waiting on attorney review, waiting on a government response, or something internal?

3. How do you currently track where a case stands? Walk me through the tools, lists, or systems you personally use to know what needs your attention today.

Include everything: DocketWise, personal spreadsheets, sticky notes, calendar reminders, OneNote, Notion, or anything else you rely on.

4. Describe the attorney review process for a filing or application. How does work get to the attorney, what does the attorney check, and what happens when revisions are needed?

Give a concrete example of a recent review cycle. How many rounds did it take, how long did each round take, and what caused the back-and-forth?

5. When a case is finished, what happens? Walk me through the steps from final disposition to the case being closed in your system.

Include whether cases are actually archived, who is responsible for closing them, and whether there is any final client communication or document delivery step.

6. How does work get reassigned when someone is out, overloaded, or leaves the firm?

Describe a specific instance where a case had to be handed off. What information transferred, what got lost, and how long did it take the new person to get up to speed?

1. Describe what a new client experiences in their first 48 hours after signing. What do they receive, who contacts them, and what are they told about what happens next?

Walk through the exact communications: emails, calls, welcome materials, introductions. If nothing formal exists, describe what typically happens in practice.

2. How do clients currently learn about the status of their case, and how often does that communication happen without the client asking first?

Be honest about the ratio of proactive updates versus client-initiated status requests. Give an example of each.

3. Walk me through how the shared email address works in your daily routine. When a client email arrives, what do you do with it?

Describe your personal process: do you read every email, only the ones relevant to your cases, or something else? What happens to emails that nobody responds to?

4. Think about a time when a client was frustrated or confused because of a communication gap. What happened, and how was it resolved?

Focus on the specific breakdown: was information missing, was the wrong person contacted, was a deadline missed, or was the client simply left in the dark too long?

5. How does the firm present itself to clients who speak languages other than English? Is there anything different about the experience for Spanish-speaking, Arabic-speaking, or Cantonese-speaking clients?

Think about written materials, phone interactions, document instructions, and whether language capability is matched to case assignment.

6. If a client referred a friend to SS&T today, what would that friend experience from their first phone call to their first meeting with an attorney?

Walk through the intake funnel as the client would experience it, not as it is designed. Note any moments where the client might feel lost, ignored, or confused.

1. How does a potential client typically find SS&T? Walk me through the most common paths someone takes to end up on the phone or in the office.

Think about the last five or ten new clients. Were they referrals, web searches, community connections, or something else? Be specific about the mix.

2. When a new inquiry comes in by phone, email, or walk-in, what happens? Who receives it, what information is collected, and how quickly does it move toward a consultation?

Describe the process from the moment the phone rings or the email arrives. Include who decides whether the lead is worth pursuing and what criteria they use.

3. How are consultations scheduled, and what does the potential client receive before the meeting?

Walk through the scheduling process, any intake forms or questionnaires sent in advance, and whether the attorney has context about the case before the consultation begins.

4. After a consultation, what determines whether a potential client becomes an actual client? What is the typical timeline from consultation to signed retainer?

Describe what happens after the attorney says this is a case the firm will take. Who follows up, how quickly, and what causes delays?

5. How many inquiries or consultations would you estimate the firm handles in a typical month, and how many of those become paying clients?

Even a rough estimate helps. If you do not track this, say so and describe what you think the ratio feels like based on your experience.

6. Is there anything the firm does intentionally to generate new business beyond word-of-mouth, and is there anything you wish the firm did?

Think about online presence, community involvement, advertising, content, partnerships, or any outreach you have seen or would like to see.

1. Walk me through the first thing you do when you open DocketWise in the morning. What are you looking for, and how do you decide what to work on?

Describe your actual daily routine with the system, not what you think the ideal routine should be. Include any other tools you check before or instead of DocketWise.

2. How were you trained on DocketWise, and what do you wish someone had shown you that you had to figure out on your own?

Describe your onboarding experience with the system. Was there formal training, shadowing, self-teaching, or some combination?

3. Where do you store case documents, and how do you find a specific document when you need it?

Be honest about whether everything is in DocketWise or whether you also use the local server, Dropbox, Google Drive, email attachments, or personal folders. Describe what happens when you cannot find something.

4. How do you use DocketWise to track tasks and deadlines? If you also use something outside of DocketWise, explain why.

Walk through a typical week of task management. Show the full picture, including any personal systems that fill gaps DocketWise does not cover for you.

5. Describe a situation where DocketWise made your job harder instead of easier. What happened, and what did you do instead?

Think about moments of frustration: something you could not find, a feature that did not work as expected, or a process that felt slower in the system than outside of it.

6. If you could change one thing about how the firm uses DocketWise, what would it be?

Focus on the one change that would have the biggest impact on your daily work. It could be a feature, a policy, a training gap, or a workflow.

1. Walk me through what happens when a legal assistant sends you something for review. How do you receive it, what do you look at first, and how do you communicate your feedback?

Describe the full cycle from receiving the draft to returning it. Include how long it typically takes you to review, and what determines whether you do it immediately or it waits.

2. What are the most common reasons you send work back for revision?

Give three to five specific examples from recent cases. Are the issues about substance, formatting, missing information, or something else?

3. How do you communicate your preferences and standards to the legal assistants who prepare work for you?

Think about whether you have written guidelines, verbal instructions, examples they can reference, or whether they learn primarily through corrections.

4. Describe the difference between a filing that is ready for your signature and one that needs significant rework. What specifically separates the two?

Be as concrete as possible. Name the elements, the formatting, the completeness criteria, and anything else that distinguishes a good draft from a problematic one.

5. How do you currently divide oversight responsibilities among the attorneys? Is there a clear system for who reviews what, or does it depend on the day?

Describe how cases are assigned to attorneys for review, whether that assignment is consistent throughout the case lifecycle, and what happens when an attorney is unavailable.

6. What would need to be true for you to trust that a filing could go out with less review from you than it currently requires?

Think about the systems, training, checklists, or staffing changes that would let you delegate more confidently.

1. Walk me through what happens before a consultation. How does the attorney learn about the potential client, and what information is available to them before the meeting starts?

Describe what is collected during scheduling, whether intake forms exist, and how prepared the attorney typically feels walking into the room or joining the call.

2. During the consultation itself, how are notes captured? Who writes them down, where do they go, and who has access to them afterward?

Be specific about whether notes are typed into DocketWise during the meeting, written on paper and transferred later, or captured some other way. Include what happens if notes are incomplete or missing.

3. After the consultation ends and the attorney decides to take the case, what happens next? Who tells the client, who tells the team, and how does the case get set up?

Trace the handoff from the attorney's decision to the first task a legal assistant performs on the case. Note any delay between these two moments.

4. Describe a consultation that went particularly well and one that went poorly. What made the difference?

Focus on the operational elements: preparation, information quality, timing, follow-up. What was in place when it worked and missing when it did not?

5. How do you handle consultations where the case turns out to be non-viable? At what point is that determination made, and how is it communicated to the potential client?

Think about whether viability screening happens before or during the consultation, and what happens when a case is opened before viability is confirmed.

6. If you could redesign the consultation experience from scratch, what would the ideal version look like from the moment someone requests a consultation to the moment their case file is open and assigned?

Think big but stay practical. Describe the experience you would want to deliver if the systems and processes supported it.

1. How do you currently know whether you are doing a good job? What signals tell you that your work meets expectations, and what signals tell you something needs to change?

Think about formal and informal feedback: performance reviews, verbal comments, corrections on work product, body language, or the absence of any feedback at all.

2. Describe the last time you received feedback about your work, positive or negative. How was it delivered, and what happened afterward?

Be specific about who gave the feedback, the context, and whether it changed anything about how you approached your work going forward.

3. What do you understand your job responsibilities to be, and where did that understanding come from?

Think about whether you have a written job description, whether it matches what you actually do, and how your role has evolved since you started.

4. How does the firm handle situations where someone is underperforming or not meeting expectations?

Describe what you have observed or experienced. Is there a formal process, an informal conversation, or does the issue go unaddressed?

5. What does career growth look like at this firm? Is there a path for advancement, and do you know what it would take to get there?

Think about whether titles, responsibilities, compensation, or skill development have been discussed with you, and whether you have a clear picture of your future here.

6. If the firm were to introduce regular performance reviews, what would you want them to focus on, and what format would feel fair and useful to you?

Think about frequency, topics, who conducts them, and what outcomes you would want from the process.

1. What questions do you find yourself asking most often about how the firm is running, and how do you currently get answers?

Think about the recurring questions: how many active cases do we have, who is behind, are clients being contacted, is money coming in. Describe how you find out today.

2. If you could open your computer tomorrow morning and see one screen that tells you the health of the firm, what would be on it?

Describe the numbers, the statuses, the alerts, or the summaries that would let you start your day knowing exactly where things stand.

3. How do you currently know whether the team has enough capacity to take on new cases?

Describe the decision-making process when a new consultation is on the calendar. Do you check caseloads, ask around, or just take the case and figure it out later?

4. What financial information do you review regularly, and what do you wish you could see that you currently cannot?

Think about revenue, outstanding balances, case profitability, or any financial metric that would change how you make decisions.

5. How do you track whether deadlines are being met across all active cases? What is your current process for catching something that is about to slip?

Describe whether you rely on DocketWise alerts, manual checks, team members telling you, or some other method. Include how often things slip without you knowing.

6. Describe a recent decision you had to make about the firm where better data would have changed your approach or given you more confidence.

Think about hiring, case acceptance, staffing changes, technology investments, or any operational decision where you felt like you were guessing.

1. Walk me through the natural stages of a case from the moment it lands on your desk to the moment it is fully resolved. Name each stage in the language you would actually use with a colleague, not formal labels.

Think about the real milestones and transitions you experience as the case moves forward. Where does one phase end and the next begin? What has to be true before you consider a case ready to move to the next stage?

2. Explain the difference between how SS&T’s court cases are structured and staffed versus how the USCIS cases are structured and staffed. Walk me through who does what on each side.

Describe the team composition, the attorney involvement, the legal assistant roles, and the pace of work for each track. Include how cases are assigned, whether people move between tracks, and where the two tracks create different demands on the firm.

3. If you could design the ideal technology setup to support your casework, what would it do for you on a daily basis that your current tools do not?

Stay practical. Think about the tasks you repeat, the information you chase, the updates you send manually, and the visibility you lack. Describe what a system would need to do to genuinely make your day better, not what sounds impressive on paper.

4. When you hear that LFA may introduce a tool like Monday.com as an operational hub alongside DocketWise, what concerns or questions come to mind?

Be candid about what worries you. Think about whether it feels like more work, whether it duplicates what you already do, whether you trust that the team will actually use it, or whether past technology changes have left you skeptical. Name the concern plainly.

5. How do you recommend the firm handle training when new systems or processes are introduced? Think about what has worked for you in the past and what has not.

Describe your preferred way to learn something new at work. Consider whether you learn best from live walkthroughs, recorded videos, written guides, one-on-one coaching, or practice time. Include what would make you confident enough to use a new system independently within the first week.

6. If you had to measure whether a case was being handled well without reading the file, what three to five signals would you look at?

Think about the indicators that tell you a case is on track or falling behind: response times, milestone completion, client satisfaction, document readiness, or anything else that reveals case health at a glance.