At times, covering a hearing requires a higher fee. Maybe there is driving time involved or a high-volume “cattle call” court where the attorneys know they will be waiting for an extended time. Perhaps the hearing or the case is a bit more complicated or out of the “norm.”
When you post a hearing, we notify attorneys in waves based on many different factors and variables. When an attorney is notified, they are allowed to “cover” or accept the hearing or assignment or reject it based on several different options. Attorneys are also given the option to request an increased fee. (Don’t worry, we still notify other attorneys who may cover at the advertised rate.)
When the attorney rejects the hearing and asks for a higher fee, say $115, it creates an offer for you to review and accept or reject.
You will receive email notifications of any offers made by attorneys, and you may also look at them at any time using several methods.
You may go to the hearing page directly. There is a link on the left column called Offers. It will have a number next to it indicating the number of offers on the hearing. Click that, and you will be taken to the offers to view them.
You can see offers right from your Coverage Tab on the Hearing Offers widget. But to take action and to review the offers, you will want to view a particular hearing. You can just click on the hearing locator and it will take you directly to the hearing page.
On the left-hand side, you will see a link that says “Offers". If one or more attorneys have rejected the hearing and have asked for a different fee, you will see the number of offers you have inside the parenthesis. Click on “Offers" to view the details.
From the “Offers” screen, you will see the number of attorneys we have contacted, and the number of attorneys who have rejected the hearing for various reasons. Below that, you will see a table listing the offers made.
There are a few different columns shown about the offer:
Price: This is the new amount you would be charged for the hearing if you authorize the offer.
Change: This is the amount of increase you are looking at over the current price.
From Court: This is a Google Maps estimate of how long it will take the attorney to drive from their office to the court. This helps to understand if the attorney is merely compensating for travel time or is just charging a higher rate for his time.
Appearances: This is the number of appearances this attorney had made for Docketly. This helps to understand the experience level of the attorney with our pricing system.
Insured: If your hearing requires insurance, you will see this column. It indicates whether the attorney has already supplied Docketly with all the relevant compliance documents required.
When: This is the time when the attorney made the offer.
Grade: This classification reflects the quality of the offer, as assessed by Docketly’s algorithm based on various factors.
Great Deal: Docketly identifies this offer as being well within the expected range for a Great Offer. We generally recommend accepting these offers.
Good Deal: Docketly considers this offer to fall within the anticipated range for a Good Offer. Acceptance is usually advised.
Consider: Docketly views this offer as slightly outside the expected range for an Offer. We recommend considering acceptance, but it may be prudent to wait until the hearing date approaches.
Consider Counter: Docketly determines that this offer is outside the expected range for an Offer. We suggest contemplating a Counter Offer, but it can be postponed until the hearing date nears, as more favorable offers may be available from other attorneys.
Counter: Docketly assesses this offer as significantly outside the expected range for an Offer. We recommend considering a Counter Offer, but it can be delayed until the hearing date approaches, as better offers might be received from other attorneys.
Clicking "Authorize" sets things into motion for the offer. The price of the hearing is automatically adjusted to match the offer. For example, if the original price of the hearing is $65, with $46 going to the attorney and $19 going to docketly, and the attorney has an offer accepted for $70, the new price of the hearing would be $70 + $19 = $89. Thus, the margin decreases. The attorney who made the offer is notified of the increase and encouraged to confirm coverage as soon as possible. Circumstances may have changed since they made the offer, so we can’t commit them without their consent.
If the attorney does not cover the hearing within a reasonable time, Docketly will make the offer available to all attorneys in our network at this new price.
Clicking "Decline" indicates that you were not interested in the offer. We will notify the attorney if they are waiting to complete their schedule.
You are not required to decline offers, but it is a courtesy if you see offers that are solidly out of your price range.
When you decline, the offer will be struck through in the text.
When the hearing is ultimately covered by an attorney, we will dismiss all offers that were not utilized. Attorneys will be notified of the accepted offer and its price. This should give them some knowledge about pricing in their area so they can make the appropriate competitive bid next time.
Clients do not have to perform any actions to dismiss. It happens automatically.
Some of our clients like to have control over who in their firm can approve offers. The restriction feature will still allow all your users to see offers, but only users with the role of Client Manager will be able to take any action on the offer page. If this is your preferred workflow, contact us for the initial setup.