Full article

What are the consequences of a lawyer not providing their personal mobile phone number to a client?

Is laziness behind these behaviors — or not?

There was a time when the mobile phone was a strictly private space. A personal object, separate from work, reserved for family and friends. That time ended years ago. Today, the mobile phone and especially WhatsApp is a basic professional tool in almost every sector. And in the legal profession, more than in many others, it is no longer an option: it is a client expectation.

However, in recent years a curious trend has emerged within the legal sector. Some lawyers, even with a certain sense of pride, boast about not giving their personal number to clients. “My private life is sacred,” they say. “Clients should call the office,” they add. “Outside working hours, I don’t answer.”

This approach may be perfectly respectable in other professional fields. But in the legal profession, it simply does not work.

The lawyer–client relationship is not an administrative relationship; it is a relationship of trust. The client is not buying a standardized product; they are buying peace of mind, commitment, and the feeling that someone is taking responsibility for their problem. And that feeling begins long before a court hearing or a contract signing: it begins at the very first contact.

When a lawyer secures a new client and hands over a business card with only a landline office number no mobile the implicit message is devastating: “Don’t get too close. There are clear limits. I set the distance.” From both a commercial and human perspective, it is a bad first impression. It creates a barrier at the very moment when closeness should be built. As some clients put it, it is a reason to quietly run away.

That client may not leave immediately. They may have come through obligation, recommendation, or because they had no faster alternative. But the chances that, at the first point of friction, they look for another lawyer are extremely high. And the chances that they will recommend that professional to others are practically zero. In a market where personal referral remains key, that is lethal.

It must be said clearly: the legal profession is not for those who systematically prioritize leisure, comfort, or total disconnection. This is not a moral judgment; it is a professional reality. It is a demanding, committed, and often intrusive activity. Clients do not have problems only from 9 to 2 and from 4 to 6. Legal problems arise when they arise. And anyone who practices this profession must accept that.

Giving your mobile number does not mean being enslaved 24/7. It means something much simpler and much more powerful: conveying to the client that they are not alone, that there is someone on the other side, and that their matter matters. In practice, most clients do not abuse this access. And when one does, there are mature ways to reset boundaries, schedules, and expectations. But refusing to give your number from the outset is a declaration of detachment.

The lawyer who succeeds today is not necessarily the most technically brilliant although those matters but the one who combines competence with reasonable availability, empathy, and visible commitment. Clients tolerate high fees, long processes, and uncertain outcomes. What they do not tolerate is feeling like a nuisance.

That is why this discourse of “my private life is untouchable, and the client must adapt” usually ends badly in the legal sector. Not because wanting boundaries is illegitimate, but because the way those boundaries are imposed is incompatible with the nature of legal services. Anyone seeking a profession with rigid hours and emotional distance would do better to choose another field. Historically, the legal profession has never been that.

Ultimately, the legal profession does not want uncommitted people. And the market wants them even less. Giving your mobile number is not a humiliating concession or a surrender to the client: it is an investment in trust. It is saying, without words: “I’m here. I care. And I will respond.” In an increasingly competitive legal world, that simple gesture continues to make the difference between the lawyer who retains clients… and the one who loses them without quite knowing why.