What Do Clients Want?

What does the client want from the attorney? For those outside of the legal profession, the answer seems easy: The client wants to win the case. Those of us on the inside know that, at least for civil defense practitioners, the answer is more complicated. While we often have long-term relationships with clients that permit us to assist in risk management and lawsuit prevention, we are more commonly called upon to provide a legal defense after the facts are set. Unlike plaintiff attorneys who have the option of screening their cases for "winnability," civil defense attorneys are assigned the clear winners, the obvious losers, and---most frequently---cases that could go either way, depending on how certain facts and issues are developed.

That is particularly true where a liability insurance carrier is primarily responsible for funding the defense. For obvious business reasons, defense attorneys strive to develop long-term relationships with insurance carriers. Such a relationship would obviously be thwarted if an attorney rejected a case assignment from an insurer because the attorney concluded that the case was a loser!

In my experience, communication is key. Timeliness of response is the most important component of communication Compliance with reporting deadlines is next most important. Giving the client a meaningful, substantive case assessment---one that the attorney can stick to barring genuinely unforeseen developments---is third. Keeping the client and/or client representative generally informed of day-to-day case progress is fourth.

We often focus on winning or losing as the measure of the client's expectations. However, where we keep our clients adequately informed, we can help them make decisions which minimize a true "loss." We cannot win them all, but in the exercise of good communication skills, we can successfully partner with our clients to satisfy their expectations.