There are times when you know you need to decline a prospective client, whether because you’ve too much work on your plate or the client has raised a few “red flags” in your initial interview.  In How to Decline Client Engagements with Grace, law practice coach Debra Bruce provides helpful advice to make this conversation go smoothly. 

And if you need some help in deciding whether or not you should take a client or in identifying the most common red flags, take a look at The Art of Client Selection by Thomas J. Watson in the Fall 2008 issue of CLIA’s Loss Prevention Bulletin.

Managing client expectations is part of risk management, but as Steven B. Levy points out in his recent post on Slaw, Setting v. Managing Expectations, setting appropriate expectations in the first place may make managing those expectations unnecessary.  He notes:

It’s a lot easier to set expectations appropriately when you begin a project rather than to try and rein them in once they’ve taken on a life of their own. It’s better to manage the project (proactive) than to manage expectations (reactive).

If things go off the rails, you may still need to manage expectations as damage control. Levy goes on to provide some strategies for how to do so effectively.