Client Interviews for Advocates, Exams of Law

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LECTURE 1

CLIENT INTERVIEW

1) The purpose and scope of

client interviews

• It forms the advocate-client relationship;
• The advocate is able to learn of the client’s intention;
• The advocate is able elicit the facts, as perceived by the client;
• The advocate is able to afford a legal opinion for the client
• The advocate is able to formulate a course of action, upon instruction by

Advocate-Client Relationship

• The interview heralds the fiduciary relationship that is cemented by the retainer
• The knowledge acquired by the advocate in the interview from the client, should be treated as confidential and should not be disclosed to anyone else without the client’s consent – King Woollen Mills Ltd. v. Kaplan & Stratton Advocates (1990-1994) EA 244

2)How to conduct a client interview: (a) Preliminary

• Some form of communication before the interview. ➢This may be in the form of a simple phone call or a short visit with the client. ❖The purpose is to get a rough outline of what the case involves and allow the advocate to prepare for a substantive

Preliminary stage

• Because of the mistrust lay people have for lawyers, an advocate must endeavor to be forthright and approachable
• He/she should also prepare such information as fees and other costs that may be incidental to the case and be ready to discuss this at the very onset so that the client knows that he/she is getting into
• It may also be useful at this stage to examine any prejudices or biases

that the advocate may have which may have an impact on how he handles the case.

facts of the case.

• The initial communication with the client may also serve to give you an idea of the education, legal knowledge and sophistication of the client.
• This will then help the advocate identify the best way of communicating with the client.

• After forming an initial opinion of the case, the advocate should then decide what basic information he needs to get from the client.
• The advocate can also ask the client to bring any documents that he deems from his initial perception to be relevant to the case e.g. title documents in a conveyance transaction.

• Once the advocate has identified what he will need for the interview, he proceeds to set down a date for the same.
• It is important to stick to the date and time that is agreed on with the client and also not to schedule any other things at the same time.
• This will enable him/her to give enough time to the client and his case and will also go a long way in

(b) Commencing the interview

• The advocate should take time to make the client feel comfortable before the interview starts.
• He should bear in mind that in addition to people’s foreboding attitude towards advocates, they also find them and their offices intimidating.
• If possible, the advocate should personally meet them at the reception and walk them into their office or conference room,

whichever is preferable.

• Introduce yourself to the client. You may also engage in some informal talk so as to break the ice.
• Make sure that the room is comfortable for both of you and that it has a writing area if you plan to take notes.
• You can offer the client some refreshment as a way of putting them at ease and making them feel even more comfortable at your office.
• The way you receive your client says a lot to them about how you will handle their matter.
• The advocate should also prepare to be uninterrupted. He can ask the secretary to ensure that this happens e.g. ask her to hold his calls.

3. Information gathering

• This is the most important aspect of the client interview, and what counts is the type of information you get and how you go about gathering it.
• The best way to get information is to let the client tell the story in his own words.
• Encourage him to tell the story by letting him know that the rules of confidentiality extend to the initial consultation, regardless of whether the client decides