Screen Test: How to Tell Good Clients from Poor Ones Before Signing the Retainer
Every lawyer needs to get paid, but it’s even more important for sole practitioners. “On the one hand, you want to help people — but on other hand, you have to make sure that you’re alive to practise another day,” says Victoria Lehman, a Winnipeg solo with a practice in estate, family and real estate law and Chair of the Manitoba Branch of the CBA’s Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Conference (GPSSC).
So sole practitioners need to develop an expert eye for clients who will bring in good business and those who will be more trouble than they’re worth, in terms of both personality and payment. How to tell them apart before agreeing to take the case?
Lehman does a telephone screening first, explaining her costs. Sometimes she arranges to place on the retainer another party, usually someone related to the client, who has the ability to pay. She also find out whether the potential client’s case has some basis. “I try to assess whether this is a person with an axe to grind. I say, ‘The law is a shield, not a sword.’”
After the preliminary telephone screening, Lehman uses the initial client meetings to conduct further assessments. She canvasses the client about any counseling or therapy they may be receiving, or makes referrals to the family doctor or an agency that makes such referrals.
People with “bents in their personalities” are often poor credit risks, Lehman says — they may end up turning on their lawyer and refusing to pay. Representing the abuser in a family law case can be risky in this respect, as the lawyer too can come to be seen “as an enemy to be outfoxed, once they are perceived by the abuser to have no further use.”
Laurel Bieber, who manages a small law firm based in Prince Rupert, B.C. and serves as co-chair of the GPSSC there, also screens potential clients. She offers a paid consultation to clients for 45 minutes in person or by telephone — necessary options, since she serves relatively remote communities in northwestern B.C.
“In 45 minutes, I try to learn as much as I can about their case,” says Bieber, a former Crown prosecutor with a practice in personal injury, real estate conveyancing, family, child protection and criminal law. “I tell them their options,” including legal aid. “They get the benefit of that advice, but I’ve had the opportunity to screen them for any type of bizarre behaviour, [and] for people who don’t appear to me to be able to afford our services.”
Like Lehman, Bieber warns against the vindictive client. “One thing I never want to hear is, ‘I’d rather my money go to you than to that (expletive)’, or ‘I don’t care what I pay you, Ms. Bieber, I just don’t want her to get the money.’ … It’s a really bad sign, too, if the client never mentions the kids,” indicating the focus is solely on himself or herself.
“I’ve also had people tell me they want a ‘pit bull,” she says. “I say we’re not the firm for them. We can be really tough, but I don’t want to hear that from a client at the beginning.”
Bieber describes the “passive-aggressive” client as the worst to represent — they’re more likely to blame the lawyer later if they’re unhappy with the results of the case. “One early indicator is when the client comes in, and nothing is their fault — nothing,” she says. Lehman and Bieber both recommend that lawyers make and keep careful notes, including during the pre-initial consultation, to protect themselves later.
At the end of the 45 minutes, if Bieber decides she’s prepared to have her firm represent the client, “I hand them a retainer agreement.” She discourages on-the-spot hirings. “The point of the meeting is to get advice and options, but the client also needs to know what the litigation will cost. … It gives them a chance to walk away. It means that people are fully informed, and never pressured.”
If lawyers do their jobs right during the screening, “they create a situation where people who hire them don’t resent the lawyer or the fees, and understand the process ahead of time, including the cost.,” Bieber says.
“To be a good lawyer, you really have to able to manage client expectations. We have to put out an excellent product, but we also have to have clients understand what we can and cannot do, and the cost.”
Elizabeth Raymer is a Toronto-based journalist specializing in the law.
Neither the author nor the CBA should be construed as endorsing any product or website listed in this article. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CBA.
In this document, any reference to "jurist" or "lawyer" includes, where appropriate, "Québec notary". |
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