How to Gain Clients’ Confidence and Respect

The paralegal has significant contact with the client. It is very important that he or she immediately establish rapport with the client. The initial contact is usually through the telephone. Paralegals should make certain that their telephone communications are clear, precise, and friendly.

In all relationships and communication that you have with clients and in all work that you do on behalf of clients, you should always maintain the highest ethical standards of your profession. Exhibit a professional manner at all times in each communication with clients, whether by telephone or in person, and you will gain their confidence and respect.

Clients must have confidence in you and know that you are dependable, trustworthy, and loyal. Remember that they are entrusting you with their personal legal problems. Attorneys are bound to the attorney—client privilege that requires them to keep clients’ matters confidential. You should develop that same bond of trust between yourself and the clients. You can do this by always preserving and respecting clients’ confidences.

How to Gain Clients’ Cooperation

In order to do an efficient and timely job, it is essential that you have the cooperation of the clients. With the clients’ cooperation, you will acc­omplish your tasks more efficiently, your job will go more smoothly, and you will have less difficulty in obtaining necessary information and documents.

The following pointers should assist you in obtaining the coopera­tion of clients.

1. Be friendly, courteous, and polite at all times. Your attitude toward clients should always be positive. Your personal feelings should never affect your relationship with clients. Always call the clients by their surname, e.g., Mr. Bowen or Mrs. Bowen, unless they request you to do otherwise.

 2. Practice the art of conversation. In your communications with the clients, remember to spend a little time with them conversing about subjects other than business to establish a friendly rapport with them. In other words, begin your conversations with common pleasantries to break the ice.

Do not try to impress clients with big words and stuffy con­versation. The clients will be more impressed if you are at ease and conduct yourself in a businesslike manner. Often clients will look to you to interpret in layman’s language what the attorneys have told them. The clients will be relieved when you explain seemingly compli­cated legal points in simplified terms.

 3.  Exude confidence. Acting and being confident will give clients the impression that you know what you are doing. If clients feel comfortable with you and are confident in your abilities, they will be more apt to cooperate with you and relate confidences to you. This close relationship with clients is essential for you to perform your job thoroughly, expeditiously, and efficiently. If the clients feel free to reveal their personal business to you, then they will spend less time with the attorneys, and you will succeed in saving the client legal fees, and in saving your attorney’s valuable time.

4.  Maintain a good attitude. If you maintain a positive and cooper­ative attitude toward clients, you will most likely engender the same response from them. By assisting the clients in every way you can, they will recognize your desire to be helpful and will realize your value to them; as a result, they will be more cooperative with you.

Four Simple Ways to Keep Clients Happy

In addition to the numerous suggestions given, here are four guaranteed ways to keep clients happy.

1. Keep the clients informed. Since the attorneys have an exorbitant amount of matters to which they must attend as part of their profes­sional and ethical responsibilities, you should act as their confidant. Clients do not realize that attorneys handle numerous cases and they naturally tend to believe and act as if their cases were the only ones the attorneys are handling. Therefore, you should endeavor to make the clients feel that their cases are very important and that you and your attorneys want to do everything you can to let them know what is happening on their cases.

2. Follow up on every reasonable client request. Frequently, clients will contact your office to ask seemingly simple questions or to make what may seem to be foolish requests. Always attempt to answer every question that the clients may have regardless of how simple they may seem and attempt to fulfill every reasonable request that the clients may have within the parameters of your job. If you are unable to answer any of the clients’ questions or fulfill any of the clients’ requests, consult with your attorney or another attorney in the office to ascertain how you may assist the clients. If you find that you cannot help the clients, inform them that you win consult with your attorney or other proper authority on the clients’ matters and that either you or the attorney will get back in touch with them as soon as possible.

3.    Acknowledge receipt of correspondence, documents, or other information sent to you by clients. It is a good business practice to acknowledge by letter or by telephone the receipt of correspondence, documents, pleadings, or other information clients have sent to your office. As may be expected, most clients tend to worry about important things that they send through the mails. A simple telephone call or short letter will ease their minds tremendously.

4.  Make clients feel that they are important. Clients feel that they are very important and that the legal matters they brought to your attorney’s office are extremely important, or they would not have bothered to do so. Therefore, you should make every effort to treat clients as if they are one of the most important clients and as if their case is one of your attorney’s most important cases.

How to Handle the Emotional Client

In a few areas of law, such as domestic relations and probate, you may have occasion to deal with an emotional client. Most likely, it will be in a domestic relation action. In most instances, it will be an upset wife; however, you may well have a husband who needs some reassurance and guidance.

In your role as a paralegal, you can act as a temporary comfort to an emotionally upset client. Usually, clients just need someone who will listen to their problems and are not really looking for any advice or sympathy.

The trauma of a divorce is very hard for some people to handle, especially those who have been married many years. In addition, numerous problems arise when children are involved in the divorce. In this situation, the best thing you can do for the client is be a good listener. Simply tell the client that you are sure everything will work out. Do not try to solve the client’s problems or give specific direction, as it may be construed as legal advice. Merely try to be a comfort to the client and assist in any way that you can by giving general information. If the attorney is unavailable, assure the client that your attorney will call as soon as he or she can. Tell them to relax and not to worry.

If you work in a large office, the attorneys for whom you work are not available, and the client seems unreasonably upset, you might want to call in one of the other partners and have them talk with the client. Use your best judgment. A well-known divorce lawyer once said that domestic relations work is 99% psychological and 1% legal. As you work with domestic relations clients, you will realize that this is usually the case and in most instances, the lawyer acts as either a mediator or a pseudopsychologist.