Managing the uncertainties of client behaviour

Here we shall narrow our topic of discuss to ‘lawyers and clients’, lawyers whose clients behave irrationally, by acting vindictively or refusing even generous settlement offers, are said to have little or no client control.One of the major reasons why a lawyer practices his profession is to offer efficient legal services to clients who in […]

Here we shall narrow our topic of discuss to ‘lawyers and clients’, lawyers whose clients behave irrationally, by acting vindictively or refusing even generous settlement offers, are said to have little or no client control.
One of the major reasons why a lawyer practices his profession is to offer efficient legal services to clients who in turn pay for service(s) rendered which in turn improves the welfare of the lawyer. In simple words, a legal practitioner earns a living by rendering legal services to clients. As simple as it may sound, it doesn’t always work out this way, in reality clients are most often than not unpredictable in their behaviour and try to outsmart their legal representative.
This young lawyer was once a victim of circumstance, haven gone to a police station in order to get bail on behalf of a client’s brother who was detained. Due to the lateness of the hour and the usual meandering of the police officers on duty, we couldn’t secure the bail of the suspect in detention that very night but were asked to return the following day. When we asked for transport from the client who called us, he refused to part with anything on the grounds that our job was to secure the release of his brother i.e the suspect in detention and nothing else.

On the other hand, things would have turned out differently if the first thing we did when we got to the police station was to ask for our fees.
There are clients who believe they know more than the lawyer, always inquiring as to every step taken by the lawyer, telling the lawyer what he or she feels is the right approach to take. Some clients even go the extra mile of arranging service with the bailiff behind the lawyer’s back all in a bid to avoid paying the lawyer. There also abound those sets of clients who abandon their cases mid-way only to come at the time of judgment to know the outcome of the case.
How then does a young lawyer manage these uncertainties of clients behaviour which forms part of the experience of practice? A young lawyer ought to take advantage of the moment when the client is in a weak position and collect his fees or most of his fees i.e. when the client is vulnerable and susceptible and in need. It is at this point that the young lawyer has the upper hand that he should give terms and conditions for his services to be rendered and ensure that at least 60% of it is met before accepting the job.

A young lawyer ought to be professional and try to be distinct from all emotional feelings when relating to clients. He must be able to collect his fees up-front or at least 60% of his fees before rendering any service to a client, this is because, if the case is a success, the services of the lawyer are no longer required, why then should they (clients) pay you? On the other hand, if the lawyer fails, why should they pay for that either? This is the mentality of a typical Nigerian client.
The young lawyer also needs to bring to bear strong client control while handling the business of clients. Certain vital information regarding the workings of the profession are not meant for the client to hear. I was in court when a lawyer informed the court to the hearing of litigants present that a statement of claim is the same with a witness’ deposition on oath as the only difference is the use of ‘I’ and ‘The’ and the court reproached such lawyer from making such statements to the hearing of laymen.
A young lawyer owes a responsibility in his day to day dealing with clients not to assist them in belittling the legal profession.  Clients don’t always feel that the money paid to a lawyer is earned, they have this erroneous observation that they pay more than what the lawyer actually deserves because the service rendered by the lawyer is intangible. This is where the young lawyer ought to prove the client wrong by ensuring that they pay adequately for service rendered.

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