TOPIC 2 A:

CLIENT INTERVIEWS

1.1 Introduction
 What do lawyers do on a daily basis?
 What is a client interview?
 Why hold an interview?
 Why learn client interview skills?
 Where is the client interview held?
 How to conduct the client interview?
 
• 1.2 Definition, Principles and Importance
• 1.2.1 Definition
• In almost every case in which a lawyer is instructed to represent a
client, the first and extremely important step, is the client interview
(CI).
• CI is not merely meeting the client for a chat.
• CI is the vital step to getting full information, getting a real feel for
the case and ensuring that the lawyer is in the best position to
advise properly as to the most important course of action to take in
the particular circumstances.
• CI therefore provides the foundation for the future conduct of the
case.
•  Most importantly, CI forms the basis of the relationship of the
lawyer and his or her client.

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• 1.2.2 The principles of interview

• Principle 1: You are in control

• Principle 2: The client makes the decisions
• Principle 3: Understand some psychology
• Principle 4: Emotions matters
• Principle 5: The relationship matters
• Principle 6: Anticipate common problems
• Principle 7: Show that you have a structured approach
• Principle 8: Show that you are ethical and professional

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• 1.2.3 Importance
• When meeting a client, you are practising:
• analysis of fact,
• development of a legal theory to accommodate those facts,
• integration of fact and law to develop advice, and
• testing the validity of that advice against the reactions of the
client and the feedback of any observer

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• 1.3 Factors and matters to consider at Client Interview
• 1.3.1 Factors to consider
• Note taking
• Controlling the client
• Nervousness
• Practising your skills
• Communicating with people from all walks of life
• Body language

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• 1.3.2 Matters to be decided
• What are the client‟s objectives?
• What is the legal framework of the case?
• What is the strength of the case?
• What evidence is there for or against the client?
• Is this an appropriate case to contest in court?
• What sort of witness will the client make?
• Could this be an appropriate case for a negotiated
settlement?
• What procedural rules need to be considered?
• What alternative (legal and non-legal) solutions may there be?

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• 1.4 Nature of Client Interview
• Legal interviewing is a task rather than a single discrete skill.
In performing this task, lawyers draw upon a repertoire of
skills, including:
• Communication and interpersonal skills;
• Skills of research, reasoning and analysis;
• Finding, selection and use of facts;
• Issue of identification;
• Problem-solving;
• Strategic planning; and
• Organisation.

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• 1.5 What makes for an effective Client Interview?

• Preparation and planning

• Legal research and legal analysis
• Effective communication with client1
• Gaining client‟s confidence
• Identifying relevant issues
• Analysing factual issues
• Identifying what information is ambiguous
• Identifying what information is missing
• Asking relevant questions
• Asking questions in an appropriate way to elicit the necessary information
• Interpreting accurately what the client says
• Using time in a structured and efficient way
• Giving advice that is clear and unambiguous and which the client can
easily understand
• Giving proper consideration to the impact and realities of the advice
offered to the client

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• 1.5.1 Lawyers
• For an effective, efficient and professional CI, matters relating to the
following will have to be considered:
• The individual lawyer
• Ethical considerations
• Dangers of preconceptions
• Effective communication
• Understanding what one hears
• Interpreting what one has heard
• Non-verbal indicators
• Being flexible
• Being non-judgmental and objective
•  In order to conduct an effective interview with a client, a lawyer
needs to give careful consideration to the general principles as
outlined.

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• 1.5.2 Clients
• The client
• At first blush it would be easy to assume that what is meant
by the use of the word „client‟ refers only to the lay client.
• The reality is far removed from this.

• There are an enormous variety of potential clients whom a

lawyer is likely to be instructed to represent.
• Not only that, there also a whole range of other individuals
who can become involved in the case.

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Some common difficulties with lay client
• Reluctance to give honest answers.
• Avoiding speaking about events which cause the client to
relive a painful or unpleasant experience.
• Client is in awe of the lawyer.
• Fear
• Refusal to listen/State of denial
• Indecisiveness
• I know a little bit‟

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• Questioning techniques
• Ideally, you want your client to tell you everything in their own words. Some
clients are capable of doing this with little prompting. Others need to be
encouraged. Developing your questioning techniques gives you the best
chance of getting at all the relevant information.
• Most interviews fall on to a continuum. At one end we have what can only be
described as an interrogation; at the other end a free flowing two-way
conversation. The closer to a conversation your interview is, the more effective
it is going to be.
• In an interrogation, one of the parties is an unwilling participant. In a free
flowing conversation, both parties are willing to communicate and do so
openly. In the former, the agenda is totally controlled by the interrogator,
whilst in the latter, the topics discussed are often wide ranging.
• The danger is that if a client is unforthcoming, it is tempting to close questions
down, or use leading questions, so that the interview tends more towards the
interrogation than the conversation. Similarly, an inexperienced interviewer
may move towards the interrogation in order not to lose „control‟ of the
interview process.

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• Classes of questions in Client Interview
• Yes/No questions
• Simplest form, but most limiting. The answer is a straightforward
affirmation or denial.
• Example:
• Q: Your name is Justin Bieblur, isn‟t it?
• A: Yes.
• Q: Are you married?
• A: No.
• Disadvantages
• Limited replies
• Full picture may not be revealed
• Discourage clients from putting things in their words
• Advantages:
• Control over amount of information

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• Closed and semi-closed questions
• Allow the lawyer to control the answer that the client will give
to the lawyer
• Answers are short-length : a phrase or single word will often
suffice or „don‟t know‟
• Examples
• Q: What is your name, please?
• A: Wayne Rowdy
• Q: When did you leave your wife?
• A: 1 July 2006
• Q: You then moved with your friends, first Vicky and then
Barbra.
• A: Barbara first and then Vicky

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• Advantages
• Offer guidance as to the sort of answers expected
• Indicate to the client the amount of information expected.
• Assist the lawyer to control client, particularly talkative client
• Disadvantages
• Client will limit answers
• Will not give full picture
• When to use
• Appropriate and useful when the lawyer wants a client to –
• fill in details
• Clarify certain matters
• Confirm instruction
•  “To discourage the client from talking, use closed questions.”

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• Open questions
• Allows the client freedom to speak at some length and on a wide
choice of topics.
• Allows the lawyer to discover what is on the client‟s mind, rather
than forcing the client to respond to the lawyer‟s agenda.
• Invites the client to narrate or explain using his or her own words.
• Better than closed questions to obtain a narrative from the client.
• Disadvantages
• Answers are long
• Answers can divert from original topic
• Lead to large amount of information
• What, why, how, when, where questions
• Examples:
• What happened?
• Why did you think that?

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• Semi-open questions
• Can be most useful to the lawyer.
• Combine the advantages of closed and semi-closed questions
with open questions.
• The lawyer selects and imposes limits upon the answer
expected
• Examples:
•  Q: Please tell me what you were doing on 25 June 2006
between 2.00 pm and 4.00 pm.
• Q: What did you tell your roommate in the telephone
conversation?
• Q: What did he say to you when he returned to the room?
• Each question gives the client a clear picture of what type of
information is sought, but leaves the client sufficient freedom
to give detailed replies

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• Leading questions – first type
• Encourage the client either to agree or disagree with a
statement made by the questioner
• Putting words into the mouth of the person being questioned.
• Examples
• Q: You were not the person whom the security guard saw in
Computer Lab 5 at 8.00 am on 25 June 2006, were you?
• A: No, it wasn‟t me.
• Q: Because you were still in bed as it was 8.00 in the morning?
• A: That‟s right.

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Leading questions – second type
•Offers a choice of answers
•The answer is being suggested in the question.
•Example:
•Q: Were you wearing a red or green jacket that morning?
•A: A dark green one.
•Q: Did you or didn‟t you take the train to work?
•A: I did.

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• Funnelling technique

• Funnelling

• Funnel - Work from the general to the detailed.

 
• Certain situations “inverted funnel‟.

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• Conclusion
• A lawyer can expect to encounter a wide range of clients from
diverse backgrounds and with varied problems.
• At all times, it is important to remember:
• Every client is different
• Every client is an individual
• Every client will have particular needs to which different
considerations must be given.

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