The Initial Client Interview

• Author: Rebecca A. Taylor
• Pages: 27-39

The Initial Client

Interview

Chapter 6

27

Your client may be a longtime friend or acquaintance, or someone

who just walked through your door for the first time. The world of

foreclosure defense may be completely new to both of you. How

do you begin to solve the problem that has already cost millions of

Americans their homes? Your conversation might begin with a ques-

tion that attorneys may ask their clients in any number of settings:

What do you want to achieve? The answer from your client will be

essential to the strategy you develop (a sample client intake form is

included in the list of forms available at http://ambar.org/foreclo-

sure). The strategy for a foreclosure case may be less obvious than

in other fields of law. In a personal injury suit, the plaintiff gener-

ally wants to recover the maximum amount of damages possible.

In a criminal defense action, the defendant wants to expel or mini-

mize the charges and possible penalties. But in a foreclosure situa-

tion, whether actual or potential, your strategy will be determined

by your client’s goals for the property.

What Are Your Client’s Goals?

Your client has just realized he will not be able to afford the mort-

gage payments. Maybe he has just lost his job, or there has been

another financial emergency. He may be current now but knows he

is on the brink of a late or missed payment. Many clients will come