ࡱ> =?< \bjbj 4(      8C O$ E'sssssNNN&&&&&&&(+&1NN11&ss&1Xss&1&$&sPQu %"&'0E'%5,)X5, &5,&DN"pNNN&&XNNNE'11115,NNNNNNNNN : SUCCESSFUL CLIENT COUNSELING STRATEGIES A chronological explanation of the process Make the Client Comfortable. Have as many pleasantries as possible to make the client feel comfortable (were you able to find parking easily? or how did you hear about us? or may I take your coat?); you can also tell the client a bit about yourselves. Overview of Session. Tell the client what to expect from this initial consultation session (have you ever been to an attorney before? then during this session, well ask you all about your problem, well ask you questions as we go to clarify things, and well offer a preliminary legal analysis of your situation and provide some suggestions about potential courses of action). Pre-Flight List. Keep it short, but youve got to go through some preliminary matters: Clients full name and address (or did the secretary give you an information sheet to fill out?). $50 consultation fee; its a bit disingenuous to bring up the fee toward the end; if you forget, you can always catch yourself by asking whether the secretary had explained the fee. Attorney-client privilege; brief explanation to put the client at ease (everything you say will be kept in this room; please be open and honest so we can offer the best advice possible). Urge the client to stop you if youre not being clear or if youre using language that the client doesnt understand. Conflict Check: you need to clear with the secretary at the front desk that you are not precluded from meeting with the client because of a conflict of interest. Simply call (using an imaginary phone or pretending with a cell phone) the secretary and ask if you have a conflict. Your partner can do this after you get the clients name and while you explain some of the above items. These items should not consume too much of the time allotted. Clients Story. Start by asking something like, tell us what brings you here today or our secretary informed us that you have some sort of problem with your neighbor. You must decide how you will gather all of the facts from the client. While some clients may need help in maneuvering through the issues, be careful to not be overbearing. Other items of note: Whether or not the opposing party is represented by counsel. Names and addresses of other potentially adverse parties. Whether the client has brought with him/her, possesses, or has access to any documents or copies of documents discussed. Be sure to elicit the clients goals. You may want to recap the clients story to fill in gaps, etc. This demonstrates: (a) your attention to detail; (b) your ability to listen; (c) your desire for clarity and organization; (d) your trustworthiness in absorbing your clients problems; and (e) your interest in accurately and zealously representing your clients interests. Analysis: You DO NOT need to be an expert in any particular field of law for this competition. If you are unsure about something, tell the client that you will research an issue rather than misstating the law. Be frank with the client regarding the strengths and weaknesses of their case. Lay out the possible routes the client can take (do not forget about non-traditional alternatives such as: contacting the other party by letter, telephone, or in person; negotiation; mediation; etc.) Fees. Lay out your fee schedule in open and honest terms: As previously discussed, the initial consultation fee is $50. Further work will be billed at $100 per hour of either lawyers time. We are mindful of the fact that youd probably like to keep your legal costs down; to that end, we really do want to help you keep fees to a minimum; there are several things we can do to keep those costs down: (a) you should send us copies of all documents as soon as possible; (b) you should send us names and addresses of all parties involved as soon as possible; (c) you might consider preparing for us a diary or folder of all relevant information related to this matter; (d) were not averse to pursuing less expensive non-legal options or pre-litigation options. If you decide not to retain our services, you are entitled to retrieve all documents prepared for court and any and all research done; they belong to you, personal notes on the case written by attorneys assigned to your case, however, do not; Action Items. You must identify very specific actions steps and you cannot let the client leave until he/she knows exactly who will call whom and when to expect that call; Ill be the one primarily handling this case, so Ill give you a call Friday before noon or your workplace is right along my daily commute to the office, so why dont I swing by tomorrow morning to pick up the deed, the lease, and the other documents we discussed; often, its a good idea to give the client a piece of paper and ask them to write down a to do list for him/herself (e.g. find contract, copy deed, make diary, get name and address for the landlord, etc.) Questions. In the time remaining, always be sure to ask whether or not the client has any final questions. Usher Client Out. Conclude with the requisite pleasantries; be creative (business cards, parking validation, directions back to highway, etc.)  The ABA regional competition is longer than the time allotment for the interschool rounds and focuses a bit more on legal knowledge. The regional competition will be restricted to one area of law.     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L^`LhH. ^`hH. ^`hH. PLP^P`LhH.h ^`o(hH.h ^`o(hH.pp^p`OJQJo(hH@ @ ^@ `OJQJo(hH^`OJQJ^Jo(hHo^`OJQJo(hH^`OJQJo(hH^`OJQJ^Jo(hHoPP^P`OJQJo(hHpb=L?]\ 0. 1.( 2.P 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. AutoList5                                      Sbk6+EGTI1ZOtl)=KA@\x@UnknownG* Times New Roman5Symbol3. * ArialE. Century Gothic?= * Courier New;WingdingsACambria Math"1hjFjFu %u %Yx4{{2QHX ?+EG2!xx'SUCCESSFUL CLIENT COUNSELING STRATEGIES School of Law      Oh+'0  $0 P \ ht|(SUCCESSFUL CLIENT COUNSELING STRATEGIES  Normal.dotmSchool of Law2Microsoft Office Word@ @ Ҽu@ Ҽuu՜.+,0, hp   Washington and Lee University% { (SUCCESSFUL CLIENT COUNSELING STRATEGIES Title  !"#$%&'()*+-./012356789:;>Root Entry F0`u@1TableU,WordDocument4(SummaryInformation(,DocumentSummaryInformation84CompObjy  F'Microsoft Office Word 97-2003 Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q