Just a quick idea for all you legal software companies.

Every time a telephone call comes in to a law firm, start a timer that shows how much time has elapsed from the time the call came in and from when it was first “seen” by the lawyer to which it was directed.  After a certain time period elapses (say 24 hours) the senior partner — or the Client Service Officer — gets notified of all the unreturned calls in the office.  The calls are returned by the firm, even if to say, “Sorry we haven’t gotten back to you sooner.  We are waiting on XYZ and will touch base with you on a __________.”  The lawyers who don’t return calls are required to explain why, and the call-returned ratio is one of the factors used to determine compensation.