This article is written by Saakshi Khandelwal, pursuing a Certificate Course in Introduction to Legal Drafting: Contracts, Petitions, Opinions & Articles from LawSikho.com.
Table of Contents
Introduction
We all are very familiar with the phrase “The first impression is the last impression”. This phrase may not be relevant in every scenario, but it becomes more relevant to something called “First client meeting”. The sole purpose of the first client meeting is to impress your client. Your first meeting with a prospective client can either break or make your relationship which can either last for a single meeting or a long-term profitable relationship. Client counselling is a process that involves talking, understanding, observing, and culling the truth out of your potential client. Therefore, it must take place with due care.
Every legal relationship starts with a successful and fruitful first client meeting. It shows the enthusiasm and interest of a lawyer in his prospective client’s case. To get new clients, it is important to understand the significance of having an efficacious first client meeting.
Client counselling can be tricky sometimes since it deals with human interactions. There can be a different type of client with a different set of problems and emotions. Therefore, a lawyer needs to act as a friend and a professional at the same time. This article briefly discusses what is a first client meeting, its importance, and what should be kept in mind for first client counselling and interviewing.
What is a first client meeting?
The first client meeting is initial counselling given by a lawyer to his prospective client. It is a period of mutual assessment and understanding. A client is expected to provide all the basic information about his case to the lawyer and a lawyer is expected to provide some understanding of the way the law operates in relation to the client’s problem.
The primary purpose of a first client meeting is to identify the problems and issues faced by the prospective client and to gather enough facts to find appropriate ways to address them. Consequently, it builds rapport and gives way for trust and open communication.
The importance of the first client meeting cannot be underestimated because an initial meeting serves as a teaser for what a client can expect from the lawyer. Therefore, it is important to make that meeting a productive one. An unproductive meeting with a prospective client could send him looking for legal advice elsewhere which ultimately can be disadvantageous for that lawyer whereas a productive meeting can ensure good clientele and even referrals too.
A lawyer may come across different types of clients depending upon his area of practice. They could be highly sophisticated or could be belonging to the lower strata of society. Some might be confusing or shy while some can be diligent. However, there are majorly three types of clients – aggrieved, accused, and witnesses. A lawyer should have different strategies for dealing with a different sets of clients.
- An aggrieved client may approach a lawyer asking for the remedies available to him for violation of his legal rights or someone who has been a victim of a criminal offence. In such cases, a lawyer is expected to be empathetic towards the client and try to understand his/her situation.
- An accused may approach a lawyer seeking legal advice and what are the protections available to him/her against conviction. Here, a lawyer is expected to believe the client’s story and protect him/her from being convicted unfairly.
- Witnesses are not clients but they play a very important role in supporting and solving cases. A lawyer needs to talk and respect these witnesses and cooperate with them in every way possible.
Therefore, a lawyer should always work smartly and with due care and attention during his counselling sessions and most importantly, for his first client meeting. 
Outline structure for a first client interview
Below is the outline structure which can be followed during a first client meeting. However, the time allotted to each step may differ from client to client depending on the facts and circumstances of the case.
1. Before the interview
Before conducting the initial meeting, it is important to make sure that the client is comfortable and relaxed. He/she should be in a position to give proper details about the relevant facts. This can be done by giving warm greetings to the client which can help place some anxious clients at ease. It plays a significant role in developing a good professional relationship.
Secondly, there is an ethical code of conduct and practice that should be adopted by every legal professional. A client must be made aware of these practices which include confidentiality, potentially conflicting interests, billing or payment, administrative terms, and other office policies.
2. Roadmap for the interview
The legal professional can initiate small talks with the client. This will help in establishing a good rapport. While initiating these talks, a lawyer can easily shift to make the client familiar with the roadmap of the interview. This will assist the client to know how the meeting will proceed and what he/she can expect out of this meeting. Moreover, this road map is very helpful in keeping the conversation on track and avoiding any kind of confusion.
3. Gathering of information
This is the most crucial step in a client counselling process. Now it is time for the lawyer to sit quietly and listen to the client uninterruptedly. Here, the client should be allowed to speak and disclose all the facts including the facts which are embarrassing and negative. The lawyer should initially ask open-ended questions so that the client has the freedom to describe his/her problems. There might be a possibility of losing out significant information if only relevant questions are asked in the initial meeting.
It might happen that during the meeting the client will try to shift the conversation and deviate from the main issue. This might be because the facts are quite revealing and the client is not comfortable. Here, a lawyer should try to keep the conversation on track and try to comfort the client otherwise significant information may be missed out.
While the client speaks, a lawyer should note down all the important dates, locations, names, etc which may require follow-up clarifications. After this, the lawyer should proceed towards asking closed-ended questions. These questions can be used to seek clarifications or to fill in the important details which either were not told by the client or missed by the professional.
4. Analysing the client’s problem
After carefully listening to the client, the lawyer begins to analyze the facts provided and makes the client understand potential legal issues involved, their plausible solutions, and discusses the risks and benefits related to them. Before the interview, a lawyer should always conduct basic research that will prepare him for the session. Moreover, it will help him to make his client describe some research and how the laws may apply to the client’s problem. So at this point, the lawyer may begin to frame discussions around the potential legal issues involved in the case.
While explaining to the client about legal rights, responsibilities, risks, and benefits related to the case, the lawyer must keep in mind the goals, values, and expectations of the client. The lawyer can discuss legal as well as non-legal approaches to resolve the client’s case. While the discussion takes place, the lawyer should create a list of documents that would be required to be obtained and reviewed to further decide the course of proceedings and analyse the case.
5. Closing the interview
After analysing the facts of the case, the lawyer will begin to conclude the meeting. The meeting should not be concluded abruptly. Here, the lawyer will thank the client for taking out his precious time to speak to him. Moreover, he will remind the client about the further steps and future course of proceedings in brief. Finally, the lawyer will let the client know about the availability for further conversations and discussions.
Tips for an effective client counselling session
This section of the article discusses some tips that should be kept in mind for conducting an effective first client meeting.
1. Be prepared
The lawyer should always be prepared beforehand. He should do his background research on problems faced by his prospective client. This will enable him to know all the relevant laws, cases, and procedures of the courts and he will be in a better position to guide his potential client regarding the future course of proceedings. Moreover, this will help the lawyer to prepare the set of questions to be asked during the counselling session and will save a lot of time. Subsequently, this will build a good rapport with the lawyer in front of the client as well.
2. Maintain professionalism
It’s important to maintain professionalism. The lawyer should maintain his code of conduct during the interaction with the client. The relationship between a lawyer and a client is based on trust. Therefore, he should maintain the trust of his client and the confidentiality of the information shared.
The importance of the way the lawyer conducts himself in front of the prospective cannot be emphasised enough. His body language should not be dominating or arrogant. He should dress appropriately, watch his language, be courteous, kind, and most importantly, be punctual. It is important to value the time of his client.
3. Active listening
The lawyer should be engaged in listening to the client actively. It is important to listen and make note of the facts that help to identify the answers to 4 Ws – “where”, “why”, “when” and “who” of the client’s case. Moreover, asking questions during the interaction will make the client think that the lawyer is interested in the case.
4. No biases
There are different types of clients coming from different backgrounds and cultures. While understanding and analysing the facts, the lawyer should eliminate all personal judgment and biases and simply listen to the client’s issues without any preconceived notions.
5. Manage expectations
The lawyer should know the goals, values, and expectations of the client. The lawyer must refrain from making any false promises. If the client asks about the likelihood of success of the case or the time involved, it is important to remember that this will depend on many factors which are not in control of anyone. So, a lawyer should not build any unreasonable and false expectations.
6. Summarising the facts
After the client has finished telling the chain of events, the lawyer should summarize all the facts and dictate them to the client to check the accuracy. This will ensure that no significant information is missed out and the lawyer has perceived the facts correctly.
7. Empathise
Empathy means understanding the problems faced by the client. The lawyer should empathise with his client. He will be in a better position to understand the problem if he steps into the shoes of his client. However, empathy should not be mistaken for sympathy.
8. End with a good follow-up
Always end the session with a good follow-up. Ask the client, “Are there any facts which I should know?” This can help since there may be some facts that the client may not be able to remember initially.
Moreover, a lawyer can provide some document or a business card containing his information to the client so that he can make a well-informed decision for further counselling. The lawyer can also ask for feedback and talk about his availability for future discussions and conversations.
Conclusion
First client meeting leaves an indelible mark on the client that could be critical and affect your clientele. Client counselling is an art that can be mastered only through practise and experience. A lawyer should always try to build a strong relationship with his client based on trust, comfort, and communication. This will not only help him in establishing good rapport in front of the present client but also give way to other prospective clients.
References
- https://blog.ipleaders.in/my-personal-experience-with-clients-a-lesson-for-all-young-advocates/
- https://blog.ipleaders.in/engage-effective-client-counselling/
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