I began practicing law sixty-five years ago in Mount Vernon, Washington, with a population of 7,900 people. There were 3400 lawyers in the entire state. Today Washington has over 40,000 attorneys. In 1959 the Washington State Bar Association had one executive in charge, Alice O’Leary Ralls. The practice of law was considerably simpler and less complicated than it is today. There was no lawyer advertising and the lawyer -client relationship was not the same as it commonly is today. However, the basic fundamentals for a successful lawyer and client relationship haven’t changed significantly. While we now have the internet, lawyer websites, remote connections as well as lawyer advertising, the fundamental basics of good lawyer and client relationships haven’t changed significantly.

Some of the more important aspects of maintaining client relationships were outlined in an article “19 Tips for the New Lawyer” published in https://www.attorneyatwork.com by Merilyn Astin Tarlton who made these excellent recommendations:

1. Learn from others There are sources of advice about client satisfaction that have valuable information. There are lawyers who know more than you do about good client care. Learn from them & put the good ideas into practice.
2. Be a great Communicator There is a difference between telling someone something and communicating it in a way that is understandable. Clients want to be heard. They want to understand the situation involving their case. They want their lawyer to care and be ready to help. These attitudes are necessary for trust. The goal is to have the client be confident their lawyer is trustworthy.
3. Be a Good Listener Learn to listen when others are speaking. Don’t start thinking about your response until you have fully heard them out and understand. Demonstrate by nonverbal communication you are listening to what the client is saying.
4. Pay Attention to your Clients Return client calls promptly. Respond to client emails and texts when received. Clients judge your professional help by how much you care about their case, how hard you are working on it and how trustworthy you are. Responding promptly suggests you are working on their behalf.
5. Be a Note Taker Take notes. It helps you remember. More importantly, it demonstrates to the client you are listening to what they are telling you. It shows people that you believe what they’re saying is important enough to write it down.
6. Be Friendly Don’t forget to smile and look people in the eye. Show you are interested in them and are listening to them carefully. Put down the cell phone or device and pay attention.
7. Keep an orderly desk. An orderly desk shows that you are ready to deal with the client’s problem and won’t be distracted with too much work to do. People draw conclusions about the state of your mind and your ability based upon the looks of your office. Don’t risk creating the impression the client’s case is likely to be lost in all the other work you have. Show you are prepared to focus on this client’s case.

In addition to the basics of good client interaction, successful trial lawyers also practice great professional habits as well. John Kurtz, a trial lawyer in Kansas City at Hubbard & Kurtz http://www.mokanlaw.com/ has published a collection of great ideas about the trial practice. Here are some of his suggestions that have general application to being a plaintiff’s lawyer:

1. DO Answer the Phone. We are always just one phone call away from the most important case of our lifetime or our firm’s lifetime. Everyone is asked to know and understand the phone system and to answer it—even if it is 7:59 a.m., 8:29 a.m., or 5:31 p.m. The clients and would-be clients are out there waiting to see how we respond.
2. DO Move Quickly on the Case. Clients’ primary complaints are not being heard from their lawyer and their lawyer moving too slowly. Initiate action and keep momentum going.
3. DO A Hard Evaluation of the Chances of Winning. We very much need to avoid the cases where we will eventually disappoint one another with bad results. It will be easier to explain problems and/or reasons for not taking a new case now rather than reasons for losing later
4. DO Explain All Aspects of the Case to the Client. Have the client understand the amount
   of time that will be involved, the expected problems with the case, the fact that lawsuits generally are not fun, and the needed cooperation to be expected from them.
5. DO Size Up and Evaluate the Client. The largest percentage of credit for winning a lawsuit goes to who the client is. Great facts and great law will go nowhere if the lawyer lacks a good, decent, and honorable client. This is the time to figure that out.
6. DO Get All Background Information. Take the necessary time to learn all the facts about the client’s background. Learning bad facts at the time of completing interrogatories or preparing for depositions is too late.
7. DO Find a Theme for the Entire Case. A lawyer taking a case should use that early opportunity to figure out the theme to be sounded throughout the case and throughout the trial, up to and including closing argument. It can shape the entire remainder of the case.

Successful trial lawyers put their client’s best interests first over their fear of making others unhappy. However, they always do it with honest, ethical, and professional conduct.
Successful and courageous trial lawyers cannot pursue the objective of being liked or popular with opponents and judges while representing clients. We took an oath to ethically represent our clients despite personal consequences. We should always do that in a totally ethical and professional manner, but with our client’s best interests as our primary obligation over wanting to be liked by our opponents or even judges. As advocates for our client’s, we may necessarily create resentment and even anger on the part of opponents as well as judges. We should always do our best to be an ethical advocate always acting in a professional manner. We should attempt to maintain as good a relationship with others as reasonably possible. However, our clients’ interests come first, over the desire to be well liked. Great trial lawyers have courage under fire and a determination to win in spite of the fear of losing. Be strong and courageous in representing your clients.

In addition to general goals for trial skill improvement, there are rules of conducting yourself in your trial practice which successful trial lawyers observe. These principles have demonstrated through experience to have the benefit of making a better lawyer. They result in improved professional work and better client relationships.