Practice checklist

• Author: Stewart I. Edelstein
• Profession: Commercial trial lawyer
• Pages: 399-422

399

PRACTICE CHECKLISTS

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Dealing with Clients

•Completeaconflictscheckbeforeundertakinganyrepresentation.

•Bewareofscamsinundertakinganyrepresentation.

•Declineaprospectiverepresentationifredflagsareraised.

•Ifyoudeclinetherepresentation,putitinwriting.

•Beforedoingsubstantivework,obtainawrittenretaineragreement.

•Consideralternativefeearrangements:

 reducedhourlywithperformancebonus

 blendedrate

 fixedfee

 contingentfee

 retrospectivefeebasedonresult

 straightretainer

 volumediscount

•Ifyouundertaketherepresentation,meetpromptlywiththeclientat

yourclient’splaceofbusinessoryouroffice.

•Atthefirstclientmeeting:

 establishrapport

 explaintheattorney-clientprivilege

 explainthepurposeofthemeeting

 getnecessaryinformation

 discussthedocumentlitigationholdrequirement

 getacommitmentthattheclientwilldevotetheresources

youneed (continued)

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400 | How to Succee d as a Trial L awyer

 discussoptions

 don’tpredictoutcomewithspecificity

 discussyourfee

 warnyourclientaboutcommunicatingaboutthecaseand

preservingtheattorney-clientprivilege

 askformoreinformation

•Meet w ith all represent atives of your client fro m whom you need

information.

•Earlyintherepresentation,obtainthedocumentsyouneed.

•Ifyoutakethecase,informtheclientwhatmustbedone;arrangefor

thehelpyouwillneedfromsupportstaff,experts,andothers;develop

anoverallstrategy;andfollowthrough.

•Workcollaborativelywithyourclient.

•Manageclientexpectationsastotime,cost,andresult.

•Dealwithdifficultclientsbyunderstandingwhatconcernscausethem

tobedifficult.

•When yo u need to delive r bad news to a c lient, do so pr omptly, be

direct in expl aining the signif icance o f what happen ed, and disc uss

optionsinyourstrategygoingforward.

•Inpreparingyourclienttotestifyincourt,tailoryourpreparationto

theexperience,sophistication,andpersonalityofyourclient,follow-

ingthetipsinthetext.

•Beconscientiousaboutcapturingandrecordingyourbillableandnon-

billabletimeeachday.

•Afteryouhavecompletedyourrepresentation,sendalettertothecli-

enttothateffectand,ifyouhavenotdonesoalready,informtheclient

ofotherservicesyourfirmprovides.

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