Getting More Value From Your Lawyer-Client Relationship

Hiring a Good Lawyer Is Just the Beginning

Finding a good lawyer — one who you trust, who you feel charges appropriately, who gives you practical advice, and who communicates clearly rather than through jargon, is not easy! It’s not as difficult as discovering oil in your backyard, but it is nevertheless hard. Some business owners never accomplish it. And it’s even more work to build a lawyer-client relationship that builds value for your business.

Whether or not you are working with a good lawyer, you, the client, need to do more than just pay the bill to make the experience as valuable as possible.

Simply put, you need to realize that the lawyer-client relationship is a form of a ‘partnership,’ not in the legal sense, but in the sense that it only works well if each ‘partner’ fulfills their responsibilities.

Here are some relatively easy steps you can implement to improve the services you get and, ultimately, your bottom line.

When You Have No Alternatives, You Have No Problems

Problems need to be seen as something that can be solved. Facts are not problems. The sun rising in the east is a fact. The light coming in from your window is a problem because it wakes you up in the morning. The good thing about a problem is that it can be solved, for instance, by getting better bedroom shades. The most valuable contribution a lawyer can make toward solving your problems is to provide creative, imaginative, and previously unrecognized solutions. The most valuable contribution you can make as a client is insisting on alternatives that can then be evaluated in terms of cost, likelihood of success, consequences of failure, and positive results.

Most importantly, this approach to the relationship will challenge your lawyer to do what only they can do — predict the outcome of each strategy. As experienced clients know, many lawyers are very uncomfortable doing this because they do not want to guarantee results. To get valuable advice, you need to make it clear that you are not looking for a guarantee but rather a prediction. The lawyer should, if experienced, have enough data to make that prediction.

Doing Nothing Is Something

When asking for alternatives, always consider that doing nothing is doing something. It is a valuable alternative that should always be considered. Everyone wants a physician to tell them to do nothing and see if their condition improves. And no one complains about a bill from a doctor who gives that advice.

Those who feel that being told ‘do nothing’ is worth nothing are not only wrong but are begging for what often amounts to bad advice. The fact is that many legal problems, just like many medical problems, are solved by doing nothing. This strategy should always be considered.

Don’t Accept Unhelpful Information

Getting helpful information starts with asking the right questions. Imagine you are lost in New York City. You stop someone on the street and ask where you are. You may be told that you are in New York City, which while technically true, isn’t too helpful. On the other hand, asking that person how you get to Carnegie Hall from your current location is far more likely to elicit a more specific, helpful answer.

Sadly, many clients ask the wrong questions and get true answers but of no help. Lawyers are very literal — as they should be. For instance, the following questions are of little value to you:

• Will I win this case?
• Can they sue me about this?
• Is there a risk that they will not deliver what this contract requires?

You may always be told ’yes.’ That’s because that is the correct answer to the wrong question. Instead, ask:

• What is the likelihood of my losing?
• What is the possibility of my being sued?
• If they don’t deliver under this contract, what can I do about it, and how likely is each alternative to work out to my benefit?

An even more straightforward question for the lawyer to answer would be to ask what they would advise if they were the other party’s lawyer.

Don’t Let the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good

Although the perfect can always be a goal, it is often too expensive, risky, or time-consuming to be a wise goal. Every contract or transaction involves some risk. That risk is taken based on the likelihood of an unwanted event compared to the potential gain if the event does not happen. Many business owners need to consider risk when entering into transactions, lawsuits, or other disputes, such as contract terms. The data shows that 80 to 90% of business disputes are resolved by a compromise. Lawyers refer to this as a settlement. That is never the perfect solution but almost always a good one, and often the best one.

Coincidence Does Not Prove Causation

The fact that two things happen nearby does not mean that one causes the other. If I clap my hands one morning at the same time the sun rises, only a three-year-old would think my clapping caused the sun to rise. A client’s role in their ‘partnership’ with their lawyer is to avoid seeing coincidence as causation.

Always question whether a good or bad outcome resulted from what the lawyer did or did not do. Question yourself as to whether their proximity was simply a matter of coincidence. If you find your ‘partner’ taking undeserved credit, or you do not give credit when it is deserved, you are not a good partner, and the partnership will not work as well as it could.

Of course, this article is far from an advanced course on the lawyer-client relationship and managing your lawyer. However, implementing these suggestions will impact the quality of advice you receive and your insights into your lawyers’ skills.

We think you’ll also like:

1. How Choosing Your Company Legal Structure Affects Business Down the Line
2. What Is a Non-Disclosure Agreement? Non-Disclosure Terms Explained
3. Anticipating Contract Disputes Before You Sign

[Editors’ Note: To learn more about this and related topics, you may want to attend the following on-demand webinars (which you can listen to at your leisure, and each includes a comprehensive customer PowerPoint about the topic):

1. Preparing for an Arbitration
2. How to Avoid Malpractice & Disciplinary Actions – General Do’s and Don’ts
3. Anatomy of a Trial

This is an updated version of an article originally published December 17, 2020.] 

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