Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks: Practical advice for new lawyers
In prior columns, I covered unwritten rules about building internal relationships. This column covers unwritten rules about client relations.
Q: I have heard that there are lots of “unwritten rules” at law firms. Is that true?
A: Indeed. In prior columns, I covered unwritten rules about building internal relationships. This column covers unwritten rules about client relations.
1. Be seen, but not heard in client meetings.
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As a general rule, don’t speak up in client meetings unless someone asks you a question. Early on, your role in a client meeting is to learn so that you will be able to take on more responsibility.
Making a meaningful contribution to a client meeting is challenging for new lawyers. It requires a deep understanding of the client’s business, the nuances of the issues involved, and knowledge of how the firm can best provide value to the client.
Effective client communication also takes practice. Clients want to know the bottom line: Whether they can – or can’t – do something. They are less interested in all the twists and turns it took to come up with the answer. If you launch into a recitation of the facts and holdings of various cases, you may see your client’s head explode.
You know you need to provide value to clients. And you may suspect that the client is leery of paying for you to sit in a meeting. This may tempt you to expound on a topic to prove your worth.
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“That is almost always a disaster,” in the words of one partner. As the adage goes: It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt.
If you say something that is irrelevant or incorrect, the senior lawyer may have to mend fences with the client. That is not on any lawyer’s list of favorite pastimes.
It may be excruciatingly tempting to jump in if you think a senior lawyer got something wrong. Again, hold your tongue. Have that discussion after the meeting. Contradicting a lawyer in front of a client will not endear you to the lawyer. If needed, things can be “clarified” later.
Communicating with clients takes practice. Take baby steps.
2. Always communicate formally.
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Communicate formally. You should assume everything you write will go directly to the client. That is unlikely. But you don’t want to be embarrassed if it happens. Senior lawyers also hate fixing things like tone and typos.
For e-mails, an associate at a global law firm counsels new associates to: “Start e-mails with a salutation, write clearly and with a purpose, and refer to all attachments in the body of the e-mail.” That is sound advice.
And always, spell the client’s name correctly.
3. Treat time entries as client communications.
The “formal communication” rule also applies to time entries. It is easy to forget that time entries are client communications. They may be the only direct communications that junior lawyers have with clients.
Vague, inane time entries such as “attention to matter,” frustrate clients and billing attorneys. Clients see a large dollar figure that they are supposed to pay (and may have to justify to others). But they have no idea what they got in exchange.
Clients are more likely to pay bills if they understand how the legal work helped achieve their goals. If this is not clear, the first instinct may be to ask for a write-off. Early in your career, write-offs may not harm you. They never help.
When drafting time entries, use verbs that connote focused thought. And explain how your work helped solve the client’s problems. That will be easier if you remember to focus on providing value to the client as you do the work.
Good luck.
Grover E. Cleveland is a Seattle lawyer, speaker and author of Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks: The Essential Guide to Thriving as a New Lawyer (West 2010). He is a former partner at Foster Pepper PLLC, one of the Northwest’s larger firms. His clients included the Seattle Seahawks and other entities owned by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen. Grover is a frequent presenter on new lawyer career success at law schools and firms nationwide. Some of the questions in this column come from those presentations. Readers may submit questions here or follow him on Twitter @Babysharklaw. He is not related to the 22nd and 24th President of the United States.
