Roundup: Client Relations
CLIA has a strong commitment to loss prevention. We take a proactive approach to avoiding claims and developed a Loss Prevention Strategic Plan to more focus our energies on helping lawyers find the loss prevention resources they need. In case you missed it, here is a collection of loss prevention posts focused on client relations to help you better manage your practice and avoid errors:
Good, clear communication is a vital component of client management as it helps us better understand our client’s needs and enable the client to make informed decisions. On the other hand, poor communication is a leading cause of professional liability claims against lawyers. Effective communication is crucial in the legal profession, and empathy can significantly contribute to it. When lawyers empathise with their clients, they not only listen attentively but also seek to understand their emotional state and perspective.
One of the most critical skills a young lawyer can develop is not necessarily displayed in the Courtroom, it’s the art of managing client expectations. While legal practice is about crafting arguments, interpreting case law and legislation, and zealous advocacy, it is also a customer service industry. Lawyers often feel pressure to keep their clients happy and deliver the results that they are paying for. How you manage your client’s hopes, fears, expectations, and demands can shape your professional relationships, impact your reputation, and ultimately determine how stressful your practice is. Here are some tips to excel.
Breakdowns in the lawyer/client relationship is one of the most frequent cause of claims. Many of these issues are avoidable by adopting good processes and honing your client management skills. To help, CLIA has compiled numerous resources on Client Management in our newly relaunched Loss Prevention Repository.
In many professional liability insurance claims against lawyers, the defendant lawyer will confess that “I knew I shouldn’t have taken this file” or “I had a bad feeling about this case”. Before you take a file, you should think about whether you have the expertise, the experience, and the time to take on a matter in an area of law (or in an area of the country) which is unfamiliar to you.