This article has been written by Gaurav Prakash, an advocate.

Disclaimer- In this article, I will not be addressing the client by his name or by any pronoun or even gender. This is done to uphold the legal ethics of advocacy.

First love, first car, the first day of school or college is memorable for all. In the same way for an advocate who has just started practicing right out of the college, getting his client is something that every young advocate will cherish the most. While I am still searching for my first personal client, and in this process of finding the first personal client, I have come across several clients who taught me a lot. Interacting with them was an experience. The deal with most of them somehow did not get materialized or either it is still in the process. Nonetheless, this experience has taught me a lot and I would like to share it with my learned friends.

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Confused Client

Now the first person who approached me with the case was through a common friend. Now why I call this person a confused one is because it’s been a year since the client got in touch with me regarding his case and till now, I have no idea whether the client is pursuing his case or not, whether the client hired someone else or not. The client had a property issue, and the client was looking for someone who could fight the case in Haryana. After 6 months of being in touch with the client on phone calls, I arranged the meeting with my senior, I was taking as much input from the client as I could, and gave my 100% so that we can proceed with the case. On D-day, I could not attend the meeting in the office as I was in court. I came to know that the client has asked for some more time to make a decision. Again, this client contacted me this year, told me we should look for other options because the fees which my senior quoted was quite high.

Since the client was my first potential client and was a friend’s friend, I referred the client to some other advocate, there also the client went for the meeting but the client was not satisfied with the approach and response of the advocate. I asked the client not to worry and assured me that I will look for someone else. This was the last time we had a conversation. Till date, this client neither called me back nor told me about the position in the case. The client was even ready to renegotiate with my senior regarding the fees at one point of time but even that did not take place or even if it did happen, I was not communicated about the same.

Lesson learnt– The first lesson which I learnt was that never mix your friendship or relationship with your profession. It should be the client who should be after you not the other way around. The way a person pursues his case clearly shows how serious that client is for the case. Be professional to your clients, and help them only up to the stage when the client does not take you for granted. You cannot help a person who is not ready to help himself/herself. If you are giving your 100% then you should expect the same from your clients.

Vanished Client

These clients tend to just vanish at that stage when there is nothing left for discussion and the next step is the commencement of the proceeding in the court. This client was looking for divorce as the client was not happy with the marriage. The client narrated the entire incident about the reason behind seeking divorce on a phone call. I went to my office and told the entire incident to my senior and he again was happy to have a client meeting with the client. The client reached the office on time, had a discussion with me and my senior, she was satisfied and wanted to proceed with the case. The client after a few weeks again came to our office and this time it was finalized that we will go for a divorce case. Both the parties mutually agreed on the number of fees. After that one day, I got a text from the client that we should wait for some months, as there are some health issues, once it’s over then we can proceed with the case because the client wanted to be physically present in the court during court proceedings. We are still waiting for the instructions from the client and we cannot say when we are going for court proceedings or not, if the differences between the couple are resolved or not. If it is resolved then I am very happy for our client.

Lesson learnt– Though in this case, one cannot say that client was unprofessional or careless or was not serious for the case the client surely lacked some courtesy. If an advocate is listening to you patiently, not imposing anything on you, giving enough freedom to decide when to commence with the proceeding then in that case you should also oblige them with the same. As an advocate, I learnt that it is better to engage in the court proceeding as soon as the client meeting is over. A client doesn’t need to be in court every time the matter is listed in the court, there was an unnecessary delay in waiting for the client’s approval. There should be an equal share of power between a client and an advocate. The professional relationship between an advocate and a client should not be dictated by either of the parties. If there is a huge gap between the day of a client meeting and the day of filing of the case then most of the time the advocate usually loses interest in the case or even, he forgets the whole facts of the case and again they have to go through the facts of the case. This can further delay the case proceedings.

Miser Clients 

I have come across clients who were ready to go for the filing of the case and were diligent about their cases. They had a solid case, they had all the relevant documents with them but they had a fixed notion that they are required to pay a particular fee for their case and if this advocate can fit that price quota then I will proceed with him otherwise I will hire someone who is the most economical of them. These clients forget that there is a difference between an Advocate and a Clothing or Tv. Every Advocate charges according to his goodwill in the market, the type of the case offered to him and the paying capacity of his client. These do not choose the best for their case but they choose the most economical for their case. Some advocates have a certain specialization in certain cases, they have a goodwill/face value in a particular court which can help in making their case stronger than the opposing party while other advocates do not have such advantages so they will naturally charge way less than the one who has expertise. 

Lesson Learnt– Indian economy is price sensitive and so are the Indians, clients are no exceptions. One should ask the client about their mood on the fees. What are they expecting and how much they can afford because at the end of the day if it is going to be who is the most affordable of all, then why not be the most affordable? One must not compromise on their usual professional fees. If the clients are not willing to pay some extra for their case then their seriousness for the case is highly questionable. If someone is genuinely not in a position to pay more than the situation is different then you must see the case more as a moral duty then a professional duty. But if they have met you with a fixed fee in their mind then, in that case, it is beneficial for both the parties that they discuss the fees on a phone call before going for the client meeting.

Time-Consuming Clients

These clients generally do not have direct involvement in the case. They are either the third party in the case or they are one of the many parties involved in the case. They will ask you everything about the case in detail, how should we go about the case, what is the fees, what are the remedies for us and then after that they will ask you to wait till they get the approval of all the parties who have locus standi in the case. It happened to me when I met one of the litigants in NCDRC. The client asked for some suggestions. After that, we exchanged our numbers so that in case the client requires any other help the client can contact me.

The client contacted me this time for a case related to a housing society where the client’s children were one of the residents and the whole society wanted to have some reimbursement from the builder. We both were in constant touch on call; I took the help of one of my friends, we both involved my friend’s senior for this client so that all his doubts can be fixed and we can go for the court proceedings. After the phone call meeting, the client told us that the president of the housing society will talk to our senior again and after getting approval from every family in the housing society they will proceed with the case. After that whenever my friend asked about the latest update, the client told him that the meeting with the members of the housing society will take place this month. After that, we just lost our track. It can be quite frustrating for young advocates like us to get nothing in return after giving their best to the client.

Lesson Learnt– Just ignore these types of clients, they will just eat up your valuable time and then they will not give you anything in return. If the client approaches you for the case and he is not directly involved with the case, do not invest your time much in these clients until and unless they introduce you to those who are directly involved with the case. Most of the time they are just looking for free pieces of advice that is it.

Touch me not Client

While we were in school, we were taught about a plant called touch me not plant which is famous for stepping back the moment you try to touch them. The same is the case with these clients. These clients suffer from an emotional breakdown and instead of going to a counselor, they pursue advocates, and most of the time the relief which they sought is not legal in nature. I met this client while I was on my way to the office in a pool cab. The client started the conversation by asking if I am an advocate then the client started talking about the marriage problem. The client was adamant about taking my phone number and wanted to seek legal help on how to save the marriage, well that is not what advocate’s job. The client needed the help of a marriage counsellor and a psychologist as the client was suffering from emotional distress.

Lesson learnt- The advocate should be warm with them and should have empathy for them but they should never get involved with such clients as they ask for the help which an advocate cannot provide. They just want someone who can hear them out well. Advocates are not the best who can do so.The advocate is taught how not to get emotionally attached to their clients and seek every client with a professional approach. 

It is important that in our career apart from knowing what all to do, how to conduct ourselves in front of our clients, we should also know what all things we must not do in our professional career. Our time is limited so we should use it judiciously.

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