What clients want, and how trust is built

A client who comes to a lawyer has a problem, not a legal question. The problem may be a threatened business, a damaged family, a fear of prison or simply a form they cannot fill in. The legal answer is part of the solution. It is often not the part the client remembers.

Surveys of clients in many countries repeat the same complaints about lawyers, and they are rarely about the law: not returning calls, not explaining what is happening, surprise bills, jargon, and a sense of being a file rather than a person. By the same token, what clients praise is usually human: someone listened, told the truth in plain words, and kept them informed.

David Maister, Charles Green and Robert Galford, in their well-known work on trusted advisers, describe trust as resting on four things, which they put into a "trust equation": credibility (do you know what you are talking about, and do you sound it?), reliability (do you do what you say, when you say?), intimacy (is it safe to tell you hard things?), and self-orientation (are you focused on me or on yourself?). The first three raise trust; high self-orientation lowers it.

• Credibility grows with preparation, clarity and honest limits. Saying "I'm not sure; let me check" adds credibility.
• Reliability is the easiest to improve. Do the small things you promise: the call on Thursday, the draft by Friday.
• Intimacy means the client feels safe being honest, including about their mistakes. Judgement shuts it down.
• Self-orientation is the lawyer who talks about their own achievements, steers every matter to the work they want, or seems more interested in the fee than the problem.

Trust is built slowly and lost quickly. A missed deadline, a surprise bill or a half-truth can undo years. A good relationship also makes mistakes survivable: a client who trusts you will forgive an error that you own and fix quickly.

It sounds like a simple question. It is not, and getting it wrong causes ethical problems and failed relationships.

• An individual: you take instructions from them. If someone else is paying (a parent, an employer, an insurer), your duty is still to the client, and the payer's role should be agreed in writing.
• A couple or family: acting for more than one person raises conflicts. Their interests may differ, and what one tells you may matter to the other. Be clear from the start about who you act for and what happens to confidences.
• A company or organisation: the client is the organisation, not the person who telephones you. The person is its representative. The decision-maker may be the board, a general counsel or a manager, and each may want different things.
• A group or a class: the client may be defined by the retainer, and individual members may have different views.

For an organisational client, learn the structure. Who gave you the instructions? Who can change them? Who will pay? Who else will read your advice? An in-house lawyer is both a colleague and a client, with their own pressures from the business. A good adviser understands what their contact must tell their boss, and helps them tell it.

Clients often ask one question while worrying about another. "Can they do that?" may mean "Am I about to lose my home?" "What does the clause say?" may mean "Can I trust my partner?" A lawyer who answers only the literal question can be accurate and unhelpful.

Listen for the emotion (worry, anger, shame), the stakes (money, reputation, relationships, safety), and the timetable (when do they need an answer, and why). A short question such as "What is worrying you most about this?" often reveals all three.