Practice Tips

Client Competence Is the Answer

Are you managing your clients, or are they managing you? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. In our fast-paced billable hours world, we often forget the leadership that clients want from us. Our interactions become driven by deadlines and deliveries, when a more forward-looking approach of interacting with clients would lead to stronger relationships.

Great lawyers take responsibility not only for substantive competence, but also for client competence. Our ability to assist a client in understanding options and more clearly articulating their objectives can (and often does) set us apart from other lawyers.

Much like anyone else, a client hearing their story reflected back to them feels more at ease. When you have listened to your client and confirmed out loud what is important to them, a relationship is built in the moment. The client consequently relaxes in the knowledge that their lawyer is someone who “gets” them.

Place yourself in the client’s shoes for a few moments before each interaction as a way to prepare yourself for communicating with them in a clear and satisfying way. Clients who have meaningful conversations with their lawyers become easy clients because they feel their needs and concerns are being addressed.

Once a client is convinced you understand them, you can set expectations that are soundly based on legal expertise, including past experience. Your client will be more receptive to reasonable projections and more willing to adjust their expectations to align with yours. Your client will take your lead, and you’ll find you can reign in unreasonable expectations based on the strength of relationship. Whether you have done a good job for your client is a subjective evaluation, and one made solely by the client. Set yourself up for success with clients by engaging them fully. Be reminded of the power of understanding them and expressing that to them.

TO-DO: Reach out to a client who is not expecting to hear from you. Update them quickly on your progress since you last spoke, and then shift quickly into finding out how things are on their end. Have their objectives or circumstances changed at all since the outset of the representation or since the last time you spoke? Take the time to re-state the objectives and get client confirmation on them—you want to be sure you’re working productively toward them.

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Sheppard Mullin

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Zucker, Goldberg & Ackerman

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Baker Botts

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