Sometimes clients behave in annoying ways.
I know — this is a ground-breaking, earth-shaking revelation. Any lawyer who has represented clients knows that client behavior can be an unrewarding part of practicing law.
But have you ever stopped to consider whether you are contributing to the annoying behavior? Even if only by a fault of omission?
Back when I practiced law, I spent several years handling divorce and family law issues after working in the litigation departments of large corporate law firms for the first few years after law school. After transitioning to divorce practice, one piece of advice my senior partner drove into my head was that for nearly all of my new family law clients, I was the first experience they would ever have with a lawyer.
Unlike the corporations I had been representing — with their in-house legal departments — individuals going through divorce (or workers comp, or personal injury, or traffic issues, etc) are not typically sophisticated consumers of legal services. They frequently don’t know how to choose a lawyer, what to expect from the legal process, or what the behavioral norms are for the legal process.
It’s up to the lawyers representing these folks to help them understand and sort through these issues — for two reasons. First, because the lawyers are the ones with the specialized knowledge about the legal process which can help their clients understand how to behave. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the lawyers are the ones making money in the transaction, while the clients are spending it.
All too often though, lawyers are so annoyed and irritated by their clients’ bad behavior that it becomes very difficult to step back, get some distance and figure out how to improve the situation. It becomes a straightforward lack of communication. This lack of communication can cause clients can to feel alienated and angry, making them harder for the lawyer to guide and counsel. Not to mention that producing enough angry clients will eventually hurt the lawyer’s reputation and bottom line.
There was an interesting post on the blog Zen Habits that addresses this issue. The post is called 8 Frugal Tips for Legal Matters, and was guest written by a Virginia lawyer. The post contains advice for potential legal clients such as:
- Considering whether one really needs a lawyer
- Looking into purchasing unbundled legal services
- Gathering all of the factual details before meeting with a lawyer
- Asking for an alternative billing arrangement
In short, the 8 tips probably do not contain any advice that will surprise you. It is worth reading and thinking about, though, whether you are providing this kind of help and support to your clients and potential clients? Are you teaching them how to best access and benefit from your services?
Or are you just feeling annoyed…
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