The Key To A Successful Client Interview

The key to a successful client interview is understanding that every client is going to be in a different mental state. Some will be scared when they first meet you. It may be their first time meeting a lawyer. They may just be scared of what you are going to tell them.

Others will be riddled with anxiety. Some will be angry, while others will be sad or depressed. Some won’t trust you, while others are waiting for your to give them all the answers.

No matter what place your client is in mentally, the key to a successful client interview is making your client feel comfortable from the beginning. How do you do this? There is no magic formula, but here are some tips.

The First Key To A Successful Client Interview: Build Trust

A common misconception is that public defenders work for the government. It is critical as a public defender that you make it clear to the client, from the very first interaction, that you work for them. My common explanation always went something like this:

“My name is Anthony Naro. I have been a public defender for X years and I have been assigned to represent you. That means it is my job to protect you. I don’t work for the prosecution. I don’t work for the cops. I work for you. Just imagine you came into my office with a briefcase full of money to hire me. That is the same relationship we have here, except you don’t need that briefcase full of money. Do you have any questions about that?”

There are variants of this, but the bottom line is that you make it clear from the get-go that you work for them. I also ask the client if they have any questions to give them the opportunity to push back on what I just said, or ask follow up questions to dispel any lingering doubt.

The follow up question is important! You cannot just assume your client believes your pledge is sincere just because you believe it to be. And you also want to let the client know from the beginning that asking questions is not only OK, but encouraged.

The Second Key To A Successful Client Interview: Explain Client Confidentiality.

In order to build trust with your client, you need to explain confidentiality. Your client needs to understand that what they say to you will stay with you. They need to understand that what they say will not be disclosed you both agree that it will help further their cause and should be disclosed in that effort. Here is an example of what I say to clients:

“Have you ever had a lawyer before?

If YES – “Ok, so what I may say now may seem repetitive, but it is important that you understand the confidential nature of our relationship.”

If NO – “Ok, no problem. What I want to first do before we get into any details about you or your case is explain the confidential nature of our relationship.”

Then, go into confidentiality.

Everything we discuss is confidential. That means, so long as you do not share what we discuss with anyone else, it remains between you and I. As an extreme example, if you told me right now that you have ten bodies buried in your backyard and are the leader of the country’s most powerful drug cartel, I cannot and will not repeat a word of that to a soul. In fact, I would risk losing my license to practice law if I did that. On the other end of the spectrum, if you told me that someone else committed the crime but you did not want to blame them, I would also have to keep that secret. In other words, whatever you tell me, good or bad, goes with me to the grave unless you agree otherwise. Do you have any questions about that?”

I would also encourage you to ask all of your clients the lead question. Even if you think or know they have a prior record. You never want your client to think you are presuming something about them, especially during the first client meeting.

The Third Key To A Successful Client Interview: Acknowledge That You Need To Earn Their Trust.

Of course the key to having a successful client interview is building trust, but have you thought about what a big ask that is as a public defender?

It is pretty crazy when you think about it. The government wants to take your’ liberty. You’re poor. You don’t get to choose who defends you and now some random lawyer, who you’ve never heard of, has been appointed by the court to protect you. The same court that wants to take you away from your family. Acknowledge this.

“I just want to acknowledge how scary this all might be for you. You don’t know me, yet I am asking you to trust me with your life. That is a big ask and I get that. I hope that you trust me now, but I completely understand if you don’t. Just know that I am going to fight for you as if I am fighting for my own family member. I will work to earn and keep your trust as a client. That is my pledge to you. And I want you to promise me that if you ever feel like you don’t trust me, to tell me so we can address your concerns right away. Does that sound fair?”

You must not only acknowledge that you don’t expect them to trust you right away, but also that you are committed to earning their trust. You are not putting this on them. It is completely on you. And that, I believe, is not only fair, but also gives you some credibility.

The Fourth Key: Tell Your Client You Trust Them.

How can we expect our clients to trust us at the first meeting if we don’t trust them? The government that wants to out them away doesn’t trust them. The judge doesn’t trust them. They are alone and everyone is out to get them – except you.

Make it clear that you are not just asking them to put their faith in you, but that you have already put your faith in them. So, how do you do this? I like to start off with this when we begin to discuss the charges:

“The government is accusing you of XYZ. We will go over their claims, but I am also going to ask you to tell me what actually happened. We can go in any order you want. If you want to hear what they are claiming first, and then tell me what happened yourself, that is perfectly fine by me. In fact, it might be helpful to hear what the police are saying so you can point out where they are wrong.”

You are not coming out and and saying “your word in bond,” but you are clearly signaling to them that their side of the story is important to you and that you are not going to just believe what the cops say. This is you telling your client that you trust them.

I also like to give my client the option to go over the State’s case first. Why? Because it feels less like a setup to the client. They are in the dark about the allegations so how can they know what facts are important for them to talk to you about?

You also want to avoid having a client give you a narrative, only to then be confronted with evidence that contradicts that narrative. Show them the government’s cards and then let you client respond.

The Fifth Key To A Successful Client Interview: Empower Your Clients To Disagree With You.

Part of building trust with your clients is giving your them license to not only disagree with you, but also raise those disagreements.

Oftentimes a client will not like something that you are doing, but they don’t say anything. They may disagree because they don’t understand why you are doing that thing. Or, they might just simply disagree with your strategy. By letting them known from the very beginning that it is OK to bring up disagreements with you, you are not only earning their trust, but you are also preemptively avoiding an unpleasant confrontation.

Try this:

“I want you to know that while I am the attorney and will be making a number of strategic decisions to further your interests, your opinions matter. If I do or say something that you disagree with, I want you to tell me. It is OK to disagree with me. It is also important that your voice is heard when you do disagree because this case is about you, not me. This is your life.”

Creating a safe space for your client to come to you with disagreements will avoid them having to build up the courage to raise issues with you. Otherwise, you will have clients that fire themselves up to the point where you cannot have a meaningful discussion. Alternatively, you will have clients that never raises these issues, or wait until it is too late, leaving them dissatisfied with your representation and/or the outcome of the case.

The Final Key: Check Your Bias!

It is critical for all attorneys, and in particular public defenders, to always be questioning whether they are bringing any biases into their representation. If you want to conduct a successful client interview and then have a strong attorney-client relationship thereafter, you must pay attention to this.

Please read my article on Implicit Bias and Public Defenders. Constantly be thinking about your own internal biases. How are your biases infecting the questions you are asking? How are your biases impacting how you ask those questions. And how are your biases infecting how you interpret and receive your client’s answer?

Your Black clients, your LatinX clients, your Trans clients, your female clients, etc., will all benefit from you being conscious of your unconscious biases. You will provide them with better representation and you will be able to do this from the very first client interview.