This is to help the potential client air his or her
concerns, the interview must be conducted effectively.
Legal interviewing is a medium of communication
between a practitioner and a potential client. A client may consult a
practitioner with a matter which he or she believes relates to law, but which
has nothing to do with law, in which the legal practitioner is to aid the
client to the right place.
1) To form an attorney-client relationship – this has to do with three level viz.: personal,
educational, and contractual. It is personal where you and the client come to
understand each other, that is, you have to know each other very well in the
course of interviewing and counselling. It is educational where you explain to the
client what is involved in practice, for instance, fiduciary relationship,
confidentiality, etc. finally, it is contractual where the client agrees to
hire you and pay for your fees and expenses incurred.
2) To learn the client’s goals – know what the client wants and explain the best
options to him.
3) To learn as much as the client knows about the facts – this is the major aim of the
interview.
4) To reduce the client’s anxiety without being unrealistic – give the client the feeling that you
can help with the matter but do not assure him that you must win the case as
this will be unethical.
CRITERIA OF AN EFFECTVE CLIENT INTERVIEWING AND COUNSELLING
A practitioner must comply with the law and rules of
professional conduct when consulted by a potential client to handle a matter.
First, he or she must ascertain whether there is any
conflict of interest with existing clients. If there is, a legal practitioner
is to decline the matter. A violation of this will constitute professional
misconduct – Rule 17.
A legal practitioner must also ensure the potential
client’s matter does not involve illegality, crime or fraud. A legal
practitioner should decline where the matter involves one or any of these.
Legal practitioners must be frank in dealing with
potential clients. If it is a field where the legal practitioner lacks
knowledge, the legal practitioner should decline to the matter.
A legal practitioner should endeavour to obtain full
knowledge of his client’s cause before advising thereon, and he is bound to
give candid opinion of the merits and probable results of pending or
contemplated litigation.
The client must be assured that the facts will be
treated confidentially – Fawehinmi v. Nigerian Bar Association &
Ors. (1989) 2 NWLR (Pt. 105) 558.
Advise is to be given on the possible courses of
action and the client decides on the course of action to take.
To handle a client’s matter, the practitioner may need
to interview other people who possess information or can provide explanations
relating to it.
The legal practitioner must possess analytical skill,
and the ability to articulate clearly and advice being offered.
STAGES FOR AN EFFECTIVE CLIENT INTERVIEWING
According to Avrom Sherr’s stage-model of
interviewing, there are three stages namely: listening, questioning, and advising.
Listening stage is done in order to gather information from the client about the facts
of the matter and the client’s feeling about the matter. In this stage, the
lawyer greets the client, makes him comfortable and introduces him or herself and
any other lawyer who will be involved in handling the matter then the legal
practitioner elicits with open questions.
Questioning stage is to use questions to fill in any gaps, clarify ambiguities and
inadequacies in the client’s narrated facts. In the stage both the client and
legal practitioner participates but the legal practitioner participates more.
He questions the client on the facts for gaps, depth, background, ambiguities
and relevance by use of closed and open questions. He then summarises the facts
to the client in a language which he the client understands.
Advising stage is to advise the client on the practical and legal effects of the matter
and suggests a plan of action. The legal practitioner must ensure that the
client understands the advice and that he or she chooses one of the possible
courses of action. The legal practitioner shall obtain an agreement on fees and
costs that will be incurred. He should require the client to do a follow-up
work and ask if there is any other business before ending the interview.
After the interview, a full note of everything that
occurred at the interview should be made.
PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR A CLIENT’S INTERVIEW
1)
Greet,
seat and introduce the client
2)
Elicit
story with opening question
3)
Listen
carefully to basic outline of personalities and case from client’s own
unhindered words
4)
Question
the client on facts for gaps, depth, background, ambiguities and relevance
5)
Sum
up and recount your view of facts and check for client’s agreement, or amend
6)
Take
notes
7)
State
and advice or plan of action and deal with questions of funds
8)
Repeat
advice or plan of action and check for client’s agreement or amend
9)
Recount
follow-up work to be done by client
10)
Recount
follow-up work to be done by a legal practitioner
11)
State
next contact between legal practitioner and client
12)
Ask
if there is any other business and deal with it, if any
13)
Terminate
the interview, help the client out and say goodbye.
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1 comment:
This is a good and insightful article👌
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