LECTURE 1: CLIENT INTERVIEW

HOW TO CONDUCT A SUCCESSFUL CLIENT CONFERENCE

THE PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF CLIENT
INTERVIEWS

• to establish an effective relationship with

the client;
• identify the nature of the client’s problems;
• obtaining enough information from the
client to reach a potential solution.
INTERVIEW APPROACH
• The interview should have a logical sequence
and structure but it should not look rehearsed
• The client should be treated as an individual
with a unique set of issues
• An effective client interviewing technique will
create a positive atmosphere between you and
the client
• A successful interview requires the right
atmosphere to enable the client to divulge
the relevant information to enable counsel
arrive at the best options of advice
• It also requires empathy, i.e, attempting to
understand the clients experience and their
implications without being judgmental
INTERVIEW COMPONENTS

• Three key components listening, questioning

and advising.
1. Listening - Effective listening hearing what
is being said, and noting the way in which
things are said, and the body language
displayed while it is being said. You should
show interest when listening
2. Questioning - Effective questioning obtains
the information you need in order to provide
the client with full and informed advice, so that
they can make the right decisions about the
action they wish you to initiate on their behalf.
 Avoid interrupting the client with questions
during interview only ask questions to
substantiate issues.
3. Advising - The overall purpose of a legal
interview is to enable your client to reach a
decision as to which course of action they wish
to pursue.
 Remember, that your role is advisory, to put
those potential solutions before the client,
but leave it to them to ultimately decide
which course of action they wish to pursue.
• NOTE: The client is the master of the
content, you are the master of the process.
• Remember, that ultimately it is the client who
gives instructions! In a legal context, a
lawyer should be able to give options
QUESTIONS IN A CLIENT INTERVIEW

• Open-ended questions
• Open-ended questions allow more than one-
word answers, for example: ‘What
happened?’, ‘Could you explain a little of
the background please?’, ‘How can I help
today?’
• Open-ended questions are good to get the
client talking and to get the conversation
flowing whereas closed questions get the
details out.
• Close-ended questions
• Close-ended questions allow very limited
answers, even down to just a yes or no,
such as: ‘What date did it happen?’,
‘Where do you live?’, ‘Do you have
insurance?’
• Close-ended questions are used to clarify
particular information for e.g., to confirm
dates, events, timelines, etc.
• A good interview technique is to start with
open-ended questions and slowly narrow
down to close-ended ones until you have the
information you need.
• It is worth knowing that there is a piece
of information that the client will be able
to reveal to you only if it comes out
through your questioning
STRUCTURE OF THE INTERVIEW
• The best way to conquer the nerves and to get
everything you need is to have a good handle on what
is going to happen.
• You can’t control what your client is going to say but it
is your interview, so it can be guided in whatever way
you wish.
• Having a planned structure to the conversation will help
you get what you need, control the client to what you
need them to say.
• 1. Introduce yourself and explain a little about
what will happen during the interview: ‘I am
going to ask you a few questions about the
situation to get some information about the
background. I may take some notes while you
talk, please don’t worry.’
• Explain the stages of the interview. This puts
the client at ease and helps you take control.
You could even offer the client a cup of tea or a
drink.
• 2. Ask the general questions – name, address,
contact details. You might have been given this
already, but you should check it is correct.
There are two reasons for this – one for
accuracy and the other to check you are
speaking to the right person.
• This also leads into the interview nicely and
gives you a chance to calm down before
getting on to the meat of the interview.
• 3. Ask some easy, open-ended questions
about the situation. Explain what you know:
‘You explained to me on the phone that x has
happened. I would be grateful if you could just
take me through it again.’ Try to let the client
talk, you can go back and ask questions when
they have finished.
• Keep asking open-ended questions until it
seems like they have finished. Take notes of
everything (not verbatim!).
• 4. Go back and clarify any details you need to
with closed-ended questions – have the legal
aspects in the back of your mind when you are
thinking about this.
• Ask if the client has any paperwork they could
bring in, if applicable.
• 5. Ask the most important question – ‘Is there
anything else that might be relevant you could
tell me?’ This question should allow them to tell
you that bit of information they are keeping
back if you have missed it earlier.
• 6. Give your advice. Try to stick to only that
which you can be certain of. You can always
clarify what you are saying in the following way:
‘I think x but I will get back to you as soon as
possible.’ If you have gone blank, just say ‘I will
consult about that and get back to you.’
• 7. Confirm the next steps – both for you and
the client. You will likely have to do some
research or consult and confirm your advice
in writing by the end of the week – either by
letter or by email.
• Your client might have paperwork to bring in
or a piece of information to confirm to you. If
they don’t have anything to do, tell them that
you will get in touch with them and will let
them know then the next steps.
• 8. Ask ‘Is there anything else I can help you
with today?’ Hopefully nothing, but it’s one last
chance for them to tell you something they
haven’t already. If not, it’s a good way of ending
the interview.
• This structure is easy to follow and should elicit
all the information you need.
• Try not to script yourself; it will be easy to spot if
you are rehearsed and you will be lost if
something unexpected happens.
• However, it is worth a bit of advanced planning.
You can take some paper in with you to take
notes with – if you write your key questions on
here in advance, it will remind you but also will
allow you to take fewer notes, e.g. if you have
written ‘date of birth’ already, you will only need
to write the actual date in the interview
• Similarly, a good attendance note will have the
date, attendees, time, file number etc.
• You will know this in advance; why not get it
down before you go in.
 CLIENT CARE
• Costs. You will be on point if you cover this element in any
interview but it is important to raise in an initial interview that
what is required is a down payment of the fee to be
charged. There are three approaches:
• 1. you confirm with the remuneration order the actual fee;
• 2. a free 30-minute interview and if the client wishes to
proceed, you will discuss costs as you go along;
• 3. charge for the interview and advisory; or
• 4. The client has been sent a client care letter setting out
costs and you confirm they are happy to proceed on that
basis.
• Any one of these allows you to raise costs without actually
talking figures – mention of numbers will get you into a
tricky area, for instance, do you mean per hour, or flat fee?
• Is that for your time or your supervisor’s or both? Is it
excluding or including VAT? Is it just for your fees or are the
disbursements included? It is much easier not to get into
that territory in the first place.
• Who the client is. This is a curve-ball professional conduct
issue that happens quite a lot in practice; the ‘client’ comes
in but it turns out they are there on behalf of their mother,
who is too old to come in herself.
• You should be prepared and if it is the case, you should
close down the interview and explain you need to speak to
the mother herself. You can only take instructions from the
client direct and shouldn’t discuss matters with third
parties unless you have express permission.
• If the ‘client’ claims they have permission, explain that
you will need to check with any notices of consent, power
of attorneys, etc., first to confirm whether authority has
been given. You may be able to safely provide generic
advice about process, e.g. what happens in probate, but
don’t give anything specific.
• Managing client expectations. This is important – the
client should know when they leave the interview room
what you are going to do, what they need to do and
how long the next step will take.
• It is very important you are clear who is going to
contact who next and you must be certain about
anything the client needs to do before you next contact
them.
• Ability. You shouldn’t give any advice you are not
competent to give, i.e. don’t do guess-work. If you don’t
know something say you will have to consult, don’t try
to bluff.
• Admitting you don’t know is much better than getting it
wrong. You may be held negligent for bad advice.
• Conflicts. If it is an initial interview, it may be that you will
need to do conflict checks before you proceed to act for
the client. This should have been done before you meet
for the first time but it might be that information hasn’t yet
been provided to you.
• If you come across a situation where a conflict might arise,
you should close the interview down and explain you need
to carry out a conflict check before going any further. If
they ask why, explain that you may already act for the
other party and will be under a duty to them. You could
pretend to ask your secretary to run a conflict check that
comes back clear and then continue with the interview if
you wish or simply say that you will call the client later on
to continue once the checks have been run.
• Privileged Communication. Let the client know that
their communication to you is protected by legal
privilege; that you shall maintain confidentiality in the
matter.
• Let the client know that they are the only ones who
can waive the right in this privilege.
• Let the client know that the rules of confidentiality
cover any information that is divulged by the client in
the client interview, and will extend to the initial
consultation, regardless of whether the client decides
to engage your services.
• That you cannot even consult on the case with
anyone without their express consent.
• Preparation is key for the interview – having
your thoughts clear about what you need to ask
and what is going to happen will really help you
to get through the conversation.
• Also ensure you have an interrupted session
with the client – hold all calls!