Initial Client Consultation/Client Education

• Author: Holly J. Wanzer
• Pages: 33-65

3-33

Chapter 3

INITIAL CLIENT

CONSULTATION/

CLIENT EDUCATION

I. CONSIDER THE CLIENT’S PERSPECTIVE

II. INTRODUCE THE COLLABORATIVE PROCESS OPTION

A. Present the Pros and Cons of All Options

1. Client as a Consumer of Legal Services

§3:01 Governing Principles

§3:02 Kitchen Table Negotiations

§3:03 Mediation

§3:04 Collaborative Divorce

§3:05 Arbitration

§3:06 Litigation

2. Ask Questions to Help the Client Choose the

Appropriate Process

§3:07 Domestic Violence

§3:08 Substance Abuse

B. Demonstrate the Value of the Collaborative Process

§3:09 Control and Ownership

§3:10 The Business Meeting

§3:11 Cost

Introduction to Collaborative Divorce 3-34

C. Answer the Question:

“How Will I Get My Spouse To Agree?”

§3:12 Learn About Spouse’s Personality

§3:13 Help Your Client Formulate a Plan

D. Present the Client Retainer Agreement

§3:14 Tailored to Limited Representation in

Collaborative Process

§3:15 Sample Language

E. Present the Collaborative Process Agreement

§3:16 Goals

§3:17 Process Definition

§3:17.1 Open Exchange of Information

§3:17.2 Preservation of Status Quo

§3:17.3 Experts and Consultants

§3:18 Confidentiality

§3:19 Disqualification of Counsel

§3:19.1 Advantages of the Disqualification

Requirement

§3:19.2 Disadvantages of the

Disqualification Requirement

§3:20 Assent

F. Handouts and Client Resources

Form 3-1 Client Handout – Divorce Process Options

Form 3-2 Client Handout – Divorce Process Options

Continuum

Form 3-3 Client Intake Form (Sample 1)

Form 3-4 Client Intake Form (Sample 2)

Form 3-5 Letter to Client’s Spouse

Form 3-6 Collaborative Process Agreement

3-35 Initial Client Consultation/Client Education §3:01

I. CONSIDER

THE CLIENT’S

PERSPECTIVE

Making the first appointment

with a divorce lawyer is filled with

emotion. It is filled with questions:

Is my marriage really over? What if

I don’t want the divorce? Am I mak-

ing the right decision? How will the

children react to this? As frightening

as making the first appointment can

be, showing up is terrifying. Walk-

ing through the door of an attorney’s

office and saying the words out loud

– “I’m getting a divorce” – is a painful

step, fraught with emotion.

As a practitioner it is easy to for-

get that the initial consultation marks

the start of a painful and life-changing

process for the prospective client. I

liken it to sitting with the oncologist to

discuss treatment options immediately

after learning that you have cancer.

While it is what we practitioners do

for a living day in and day out, it is

foreign, unwanted and profoundly

painful for a prospective client.

A collaborative practitioner must

begin each initial consultation by see-

ing the human being in front of him

and not just a prospective client. Intro-

ducing the collaborative law process

begins with “Hello.” It begins with a

relaxed setting, a cup of coffee and a

conversation. The divorce practitioner

must employ active listening skills,

which is to say she should first let

the prospective client do the talking.

Maintaining eye contact without

excessive note-taking makes the client

feel heard and understood. If we are to

encourage our clients to view divorce

differently, we must begin with our-

selves and how we introduce the

divorce process to our clients. That

means listening without judgment or

commentary during the client’s telling

of what lead him to take the terrify-

ing step of entering your office. When

that story is done, it is your turn, as a

practitioner, to help the client decide

what comes next in the story.

II. INTRODUCE THE

COLLABORATIVE

PROCESS OPTION

A. Present the Pros and

Cons of All Options

1. Client as a Consumer

of Legal Services

§3:01 Governing

Principles

Prior to becoming a collaborative

practitioner, I had conducted hundreds

of initial consultations with clients. I

can say with fair certainty that I did

not approach initial interviews with

the idea that the client was a consumer

of legal services with process choices.

Divorce is a civil litigation process,

after all. Negotiation and mediation

are stops on the road toward the court-

room. Sure, one of them might yield

a settlement, which will stop the lit-

igation train short of the last station,

but the litigation process is always a

linear process, moving in the direction

of a courtroom where a third-party

decision-maker will decide the issues,

in the absence of agreement.