Wizardry at Winstead
Winstead PC — one of the largest law firms in Texas — does what so many other large law firms do. It advertises that it uses technology — including its “unique data and software applications” — to increase efficiency and to provide “[u]nsurpassed access to critical business and legal information.”
Sounds pretty good, right?
Take a look at Winstead’s page titled Technology@Winstead. Scroll down to the list of Practice Area Innovations detailing how “technological advances have revolutionized both the speed and depth of our attorneys’ handling of client matters.” Click the link to Wealth Preservation.
What wizardry! Winstead offers on-line Estate Planning Questionnaires as PDF files.
Click the link to one of those questionnaires, and note the statement at the bottom of the cover page: “The information supplied in response to this questionnaire is protected by the attorney-client privilege, and will be held in the strictest confidence.”
Hmmm . . . the Web sites of most firms have disclaimers that say something like “Use and access to this Site or any materials or information provided on this Site does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and our Firm.”
Winstead also has such a disclaimer, but the statement on the estate planning questionnaires contradict it. More than that, they let visitors (including potential clients) know that at Winstead, the left hand might not know (nor care much about) what the right hand is doing.
