Trial Magazine

Managing client expectations early in the litigation process is crucial. And you need to reinforce those expectations often so that clients understand their role, the attorney’s role, and the likely outcome of their case. The initial client meeting is critical—you must highlight the services that you will provide and also learn what the client wants from you.

Begin at the end. Explain the elements of the legal process. You can offer predictions about the case but do not make promises about how the case will resolve. Often, clients hear stories about other cases and expect that theirs will be similar or identical. Advise them against making comparisons—no two cases are the same.

Also, determine the client’s ultimate goal during your initial meeting. Some clients want their day in court; others want to avoid court at all costs. Some insurance carriers are harder to work with than others, which means that they may refuse to negotiate, and you’ll have to go to trial. It’s best to have these conversations as early as possible. At intake, the goal is to lay a foundation for a relationship of trust, not to describe every potential or possible outcome.

Get the big picture. Intake is also an opportunity to learn whether the injury or harm has negatively impacted other areas of their life. Sometimes, those other issues can be more pressing than the case itself. For example, if a client loses her job because she had to miss time from work for her injuries and then loses her home, housing may be the immediate concern.

Often, clients’ needs extend beyond the limited legal issue for which they’re seeking representation. In addition to the personal injury aspect of the case, clients may also need to navigate:

• filing a property damage claim with the owner’s insurer (including corresponding with the insurance adjuster)
• paying for vehicle repairs
• paying towing and storage fees
• renting a car while theirs is being repaired, regardless of whether rental car coverage is available under the policy
• filing claims or suit for diminished value if warranted by the property damage
• claiming benefits from medical payments coverage (MedPay), personal injury protection (PIP), or both (including corresponding with the MedPay or PIP adjuster)
• paying medical bills while the claim or case is pending
• being the defendant in a warrant in debt for failure to timely pay the providers
• companion criminal or traffic hearings in car crash or driving under the influence cases
• companion hearings from licensing boards (such as state boards of medicine, Department of Health Professions, and so on).

Depending on your practice and areas of expertise, you may be able to help your client resolve these types of tangential issues. This can be accomplished through handling the issue yourself if it’s something that you’re equipped to do (such as contacting an adjuster about a rental car or accompanying your client to a hearing) or referring your client to a trusted source for an issue that is outside your wheelhouse (such as referring a client to an immigration attorney).

Typically, if I refer a client to an outside source, I refer to a person or an organization that I have had positive experiences with in the past. If I don’t have a reliable contact, I will research online for the service and communicate to the client that the information that I am providing came from the internet. In establishing rapport with your client, a little extra effort goes a long way.

Finally, ask yourself how you want the client to feel at the end of the initial meeting. How do you want the client to describe you? Your demeanor and interactions with your client at intake should align with the way you want your client to perceive you. This will foster a positive attorney-client relationship and help you achieve your ultimate goal: having a happy client.

Courtney Leigh Winston is an attorney at Allen Allen Allen & Allen in Richmond, Va., and can be reached at courtney.winston@allenandallen.com.