3/1

Chapter 3

RELATIONSHIPS WITH CLIENTS

Introduction ........................................................................................... 3/1
The initial interview ................................................................................ 3/1
Stages of an interview ........................................................................... 3/2
Listening ................................................................................................ 3/2
Questioning ........................................................................................... 3/2
Advising ................................................................................................ 3/3
Minuting the interview ........................................................................... 3/4
Follow-up letter ...................................................................................... 3/5
Analysis of the case .............................................................................. 3/5
Continuing relationship with client ......................................................... 3/5
Client counselling .................................................................................. 3/6

Introduction
The provision of legal services is a people-centred business and it is essential that all
legal practitioners maintain good relations with their clients. If they fail to do so, their
businesses will suffer as their clients will seek the services of a more sympathetic legal
practitioner. The relationship with a client begins with the initial interview and
continues throughout the matter. It is important that the relationship starts on a good
footing and continues in a like manner.
Lawyers have the reputation of being aloof and unapproachable and it is each lawyer’s
job to convince his client that he does not comply with the stereotype. At all times a
lawyer must strive to keep the lines of communication open between himself and his
client.
A further point which lawyers frequently forget is that clients tend to be ignorant of
the law and legal processes. The lawyer should try and clarify these as much as
possible. He should never forget the people behind the problem.

The initial interview

The first interview is the foundation of a legal case. It is the first and most important
fact-finding exercise and it must be thoughtfully and carefully conducted. In addition,
it is the basis of the future relationship between the client and the lawyer. It is
important to encourage the confidence of the client and it may be useful to advise the
client that the lawyer will hold all information given to him in confidence.
Avrom Sherr in his book Client Interviewing for Lawyers states that the most common
mistakes made by lawyers in interviews with clients are as follows.
1. Lawyers forget their social manners. They do not meet and greet their clients
gracefully and frequently fail to introduce themselves to their clients.
2. They do not listen effectively to their clients.
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3. They fail to find out what their clients want.

4. They ask too many questions before their clients have told their stories.
5. They rush to a preliminary conclusion often taking too narrow a view of the matter.
6. They use too much “legalese”.
7. They do not obtain their clients’ agreement to proposed courses of action.
The result of these mistakes is that a lawyer may well have to seek a further interview
to clarify matters which should have been canvassed originally while a client may be
dissatisfied with the approach adopted by the lawyer.

Stages of an interview
An interview has 3 stages:
1. The listening stage in which the lawyer must discover what is the client’s problem.
2. The questioning stage in which the lawyer must clarify the facts and the client’s
wishes.
3. The advising stage in which the lawyer sets out his advice and explores future
tactics with the client.

Listening
At the outset, the lawyer should greet the client using ordinary social skills. He should
then seat him and introduce himself. It is helpful to give the client a business card so
that he will remember the name of the lawyer.
Many clients may be anxious and some effort should be made to settle the client
initially. The story should be elicited with sympathetic opening questions such as
“what can I do to help you?”.
The client should be encouraged to tell his story in his own words. The lawyer should
listen carefully and encourage the client with eye contact and words such as “yes and
what happened then?” which show that he is listening. The lawyer should clarify any
jargon used by the client but should avoid detailed questioning at this stage. He should
make notes of factual areas which may require further elaboration.
Where the client has brought in documents, the lawyer should try to avoid looking at
the documents until the questioning stage as this will probably interrupt the flow of the
client’s story.

Questioning
Once the client has told his story, the lawyer should then question the client regarding
gaps, ambiguities, relevance and background information. At this stage he should
avoid being judgmental and should try and see the facts from the client’s point of
view.
Firstly, he should obtain the formal information which may conveniently be
categorised as follows;
1. Personal information of the client, including names and addresses.
Relationships with clients 3/3

2. Full details of the other parties.

3. Full details of the witnesses.
4. What does the client want?
5. What previous advice and assistance has he received?
6. Have any legal proceedings been instituted and what stage has been reached?
After he has obtained the formal information, the lawyer should then consider the
problem itself. If there are any documents he should compare them with what he has
been told and question any discrepancies.
It is essential that some note taking is done at this stage. However, it should be
remembered that taking notes has the disadvantage of interrupting eye contact and
may disrupt the flow of conversation. It may also be perceived by the client as a threat
or may influence the emphasis a client places on certain aspects of the story as he is
likely to consider that only those aspects on which notes are taken are important. It
may be useful to discuss the fact that notes will be taken and thus enlist the client’s
cooperation.
The lawyer should then sum up and recount his view of the facts and check that he has
understood the client correctly. This gives the client an opportunity to ensure that his
lawyer understands the problem and also is useful in that the client hears the problem
expressed in another way. It is important to avoid intimidating the client at this stage
as he must be free to comment on the lawyer’s summing up.

Advising
The lawyer should state his preliminary advice and plan of action. This should only be
a very general statement of the law and how the law would be applied to the facts as it
may be necessary to do some research to ensure that the lawyer’s understanding is
correct.
The lawyer may also set out briefly alternative plans of action, not only legal avenues
but practical ones too. He should advise on the uncertainty of legal process and deal
with the client’s reactions to the various suggestions. A lawyer is often the bearer of
bad tidings and care should be taken that such information is given gently and
sympathetically.
It is important to watch for lack of understanding and to avoid the use of jargon.
At this stage the lawyer should give the client some idea of how much the matter is
likely to cost. While it is always difficult to advise conclusively on costs, the best
information possible should be given and a client should be advised of the manner in
which costs will be calculated. If a deposit is required, the client should be informed
of the amount and the fact that future deposits may be required as the funds are used.
The lawyer should set out a proposed plan of action. This may only be a preliminary
plan but has an important psychological effect on the client who is likely to believe
that his lawyer is actively doing something.
He should then briefly repeat his advice and plan of action and check for his client’s
agreement. This is done to ensure that the client understands and agrees with the
lawyer’s approach. It is considered important that a client is involved with the decision
3/4 The Civil Practice Handbook

making process to avoid a feeling of manipulation or thwarted expectations. It also

helps to ensure that the lawyer is acting with informed consent.
The lawyer should advise on follow up by the client. This could include the delivery
of documents to the lawyer, tracing of witnesses, etc.
He must also state what he himself will do to follow up the interview and explain what
is involved and what is likely to happen. This gives to the client an appreciation of the
work to be done and how long it is likely to take.
The lawyer should then state when and in what manner the next contact between the
lawyer and client will take place. For example, it could be stated that the client will
receive a letter from the lawyer by the end of the week. This step is important to avoid
anxiety and uncertainty on the part of the client. If for any reason the lawyer is unable
to comply with the arrangement, he must advise the client speedily.
Finally, the client should be asked if there is any other business. This is to cater for the
situation where the client may have more than one problem.
The interview should then be terminated. The lawyer should help the client out of his
office and say goodbye to him. Once again, ordinary social skills are important. It is
poor practice to expect a client to find his way out by himself.

Minuting the interview

As soon as possible after the interview, the lawyer should minute the meeting. In
addition to the formal information referred to above he should detail the following:
1. the facts;
2. what the client wants;
3. the date or manner of next contact;
4. the advice given;
5. the lawyer’s initial impressions of the client and the matter. This may be
controversial and it is suggested that each lawyer should be discreet in his
assessment.
6. the work to be done by the lawyer;
6.1. the people to contact;
6.2. the letters to be written;
6.3. the research to be done;
6.4. the timing and manner of reporting to the client.
7. the work to be done by the client;
7.1. the people to contact;
7.2. the letters to be written;
7.3. the papers to be located;
7.4. reporting to the lawyer on actions taken by the client.
Relationships with clients 3/5

Follow-up letter
A follow-up letter should be sent to the client as soon as possible after the interview.
This is symbolically the first step in the action and is, therefore, important to the
client.
The letter should confirm what has been discussed at the interview, particularly with
regard to the facts, the follow-up work by both lawyer and client, the next contact date
and the costs. It should also confirm who will be dealing with the matter.

Analysis of the case

It is important to analyse the client’s case carefully at an early stage. This will ensure
that further information may be obtained if necessary at the outset and should help to
avoid expensive or embarrassing mistakes. It is also useful in compiling a report for
the client at the follow-up contacts after the initial interview. The following is a guide
as to the steps to be taken.
1. List the facts.
2. Analyse carefully all facts of the case in four stages.
2.1. What is the case all about?
2.2. What does the client want?
2.3. How will the lawyer achieve what the client wants?
2.4. Do the facts support the client’s case?
3. At this stage it is desirable to interview pertinent witnesses and take witness
statements. These should be minuted and retained in a statements sub-file.
4. Consider the law applicable to the facts and research it to ensure a full
understanding of the relevant area and the essential requirements and pitfalls.
Keep the notes in a research sub-file.
5. Decide the appropriate form of proceedings, ie action, court application, etc.
6. Decide the form of the order sought. The drafting of pleadings, etc must be directed
to the order desired.

Continuing relationship with client

If a good relationship with the client is established from the beginning there should be
few misunderstandings but it is extremely important to ensure that the continuing
relationship remains happy.
The lawyer should always be careful to avoid the use of legal jargon and to explain the
procedures involved. He should answer any queries from his client promptly with
sufficiently detailed explanations of what is happening.
He should also keep his client fully informed of the developments in the matter and
any likely delays. It is good practice to report to the client at least once a month even
if only to report that there is no progress. A useful method of keeping the client
informed is to copy significant correspondence or other documents to the client with
an explanatory letter. It is very “civil service” simply to send such documents with a
compliments slip.
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The client should be kept informed of the costs being incurred. It is psychologically
important to send accounts regularly as frequent but smaller bills are less daunting
than large infrequent ones. Where possible, accounts should be sent at the correct time.
For example, do not delay accounting after a trial. At that time, the client is usually
quite pleased with what has been done and is willing to pay the bill. If there is a delay,
it gives him an opportunity to question the way in which the trial was handled. It is
also important that the lawyer should be seen to have done some work at the time of
accounting. Thus, an account should be accompanied by a copy of a pleading or
complex letter or opinion if possible.

Client counselling
The modern trend is to avoid the lawyer being placed in a dominant position over his
client and to encourage client participation in decisions. This approach may be
questioned by lawyers who are accustomed to dominance but it is considered desirable
for a client to make his own decisions so that he is satisfied with them. As legal
concepts and procedures are complex and unfamiliar to the client, it is important for
the lawyer, when counselling his client, to present to him the various options and to
help him understand the options while leaving the final decision to him.
The process of counselling requires careful preparation including rigorous analysis of
the relevant law, meticulous factual investigation and a careful application of the law
to the facts. It is also necessary to consider extra-legal aspects such as business
reputation. The intention is to identify possible courses of action which could be taken
by the client. [Harbaugh and Bitzke, Primer on Negotiation.]
When counselling, the lawyer should list the options, preferably in written form, and
predict the economic and personal consequences of each. He should outline the
advantages and disadvantages of each alternative as he perceives them to be although
the client may have input regarding the personal consequences. He should then ask the
client if he has any additions. They should then go through the list in the order decided
by the client and discuss each item carefully. Not only the financial results but also the
emotional and personal consequences of each alternative should be considered. The
lawyer should be careful to prevent the client dismissing an alternative without
considering it fully.
The aim of the lawyer should be to guide his client to make a decision based on the
client’s own particular circumstances and values. He should not tell the client what to
do. Decisions can be broken down into two types; “go/no go” and “way to go”.
Deciding to proceed or not must be the client’s decision. Deciding how to proceed
generally requires the lawyer’s expertise although he should always act on the
instructions of his client.

SOURCES

Harbaugh JD and Bitzke B, Primer on Negotiation (Available from Association of Law Society
of South Africa)
Sherr A, Client Interviewing for Lawyers, 2nd Edition, Sweet & Maxwell