BIFF for Lawyers and Law Offices: Your Guide to Respectful Written Communication with Clients, Opposing Counsel and Others

by Bill Eddy, Rehana Jamal

Overview

"BIFF is simple, powerful, and impactful. This book should be mandatory reading for the entire legal industry. Once you start to use BIFF, it becomes an antidote for caustic interactions. You can’t stop the poison, but BIFF gives you the antidote to counteract it safely. Read it, apply it, and start to use power of BIFF.”  —Attorney Steve Riley, Atticus shareholder and podcast host of Great Practice. Great Life. 

Use BIFF to Communicate with Your Ex's Blaming, Accusing and Taunting Texts and Emails

This book provides a simple and proven method for lawyers and staff to use in ethically responding to hostile communications, correcting misinformation by others, and initiating productive correspondence. The BIFF Communication method can be used by all law office personnel (paralegals, administrative assistants, receptionists, and others), with 30 sample responses to common situations involving hostile or misinformed emails, text messages, and other forms of communication. BIFF stands for Brief, Informative, Friendly, and Firm.

The BIFF Communication method can also be taught to clients to help them write friendly and concise responses in their legal cases, saving lawyers time and reducing the escalation of unnecessary conflicts in their cases. This book explains how to coach office staff, clients and their family members to use the BIFF Communication method, including ten easy key questions to ask when reviewing their correspondence. While this method is designed primarily for written communication, this approach can also be used in verbal conversations, to be efficient and respectful.  

The book is divided into five sections: 

1. Learning the BIFF method
2. Correspondence with clients
3. Correspondence with colleagues
4. Correspondence with staff and between staff
5. Coaching staff and clients in the BIFF method. 

Each sample scenario provides a hostile correspondence received by the lawyer and/or staff member; then gives a tempting response which is not quite a BIFF (analyzed using the BIFF Checker); then gives a communication that is a BIFF.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781950057399
Publisher:	High Conflict Institute Press
Publication date:	01/02/2024
Series:	Conflict Communication , #5
Pages:	207
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

BILL EDDY is a lawyer, therapist, mediator, and the co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of the High Conflict Institute. He was the Senior Family Mediator at the National Conflict Resolution Center for fifteen years, a Certified Family Law Specialist lawyer representing clients in family court for fifteen years, and a therapist for twelve years. He serves on the faculty of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law in California and is a Conjoint Associate Professor with the University of Newcastle Law School in Australia. He has been a speaker and trainer throughout the United States and around the world. He has written more than twenty books, including two award winners, is the co-host of the podcast It’s All Your Fault and has a popular blog with Psychology Today with millions of views. Bill lives in San Diego, California with his wife.

REHANA JAMAL is a conflict resolution specialist, mediator, and lawyer. She has always been fascinated by the way in which people interact, particularly in the way they communicate and navigate difficult conversations. This led her to pursue an undergraduate degree in psychology and, thereafter, a career in law and conflict resolution. Part of her work is to create and implement conflict resolution programs in schools and help reimagine a world where communities integrate conflict resolution as a guiding principle. Rehana holds an LL.M. in dispute resolution from Pepperdine Law School, a J.D. from Cardozo School of Law, and is a member of the New York State Bar. Her B.A. is in psychology from Barnard College, Columbia University. She has tremendous experience and passion working with people from different cultural, sociopolitical, and economic backgrounds.

Read an Excerpt

This book provides a simple and proven method for lawyers to use in ethically responding to hostile communications,

correcting misinformation from others, and initiating productive correspondence. The BIFF Response method can also be

used by other law office personnel such as paralegals and legal secretaries. with dozens of examples of responses to common

situations involving hostile or misinformed emails, text messages, and other forms of communication. BIFF stands for brief,

informative, friendly, and firm.

The BIFF Response method can also be taught to clients to help them write their own friendly and concise responses in

their cases, which saves lawyers time and reduces the escalation of unnecessary conflicts during their case. This book explains

how to coach office staff, clients, and their family members to use the BIFF method, including ten key questions to ask when

reviewing their correspondence. While this method is designed primarily for written communication, it can also be used in

verbal conversations, to be efficient and respectful.

The book is divided into five parts:
(1) learning the BIFF method,
(2) correspondence with clients,
(3) correspondence with colleagues,

(4) correspondence with staff and between staff, and

(5) coaching staff and clients. 

Each scenario begins with a hostile or misinformed correspondence received by the lawyer and/or staff member, then gives a tempting response

which is not quite a BIFF (analyzed using the BIFF Checker), then gives a sample communication that is a BIFF.

We already know that we should be civil in our communications in the practice of law. This is a book about how to

be civil while protecting our clients and ourselves at the same time.

Table of Contents

Introduction 

Part 1: Learning the BIFF Method

1. Blamespeak and High-Conflict Personalities

2. The BIFF Method: Brief, Informative, Friendly, and Firm

3. The Quick-and-Simple BIFF Checker

Part 2: Correspondence with Clients

4. Responding to Upset Clients

5. Initiating Difficult Issues with a Client

6. Communicating with Family Members of a Client

7. Communicating with a Nonresponsive Client

8. Terminating a Relationship with a Client

9. Website Contacts and Potential Client Inquiries

10. Mediation Clients, Refund Issues, and Copying Issues

Part 3: Correspondence with Colleagues

11. Responding to Hostile Opposing Counsel on Minor Issues

12. Responding to Hostile Opposing Counsel on Major Issues

13. Initiating Difficult Issues with Opposing Counsel

14. Communicating with Experts and Other Professionals

Part 4: Correspondence with Staff and Be tween Staff

15. Responding to Staff Issues and Complaints

16. Initiating Difficult Issues with Staff

17. Staff-to-Staff Communication and Conflicts

18. Correspondence with Court Staff

Part 5: Coaching Staff and Clients in Using the BIFF Method

19. Teaching the Ten Questions

20. It’s Up to You
Appendix A: Incivility and How To Stop It

Appendix B: Sample Situations and BIFF Responses