As a lawyer who does a lot of potential client interviews, in person and over the phone, I am very careful NOT to say a phrase I know the client wants to hear. The phrase is,”You have a great case!” I believe it is so important to never give potential clients unrealistic expectations before I even accept the case. Has my unwillingness to not over compliment a potential client’s case cost me any clients? Honestly, none that I know of. Could it happen? Yes, and I don’t care. The client is in my office or on my phone for my honest opinion and I’m going to give it to them. Usually, they really appreciate it.
I heard it said one time that from a lawyer’s perspective, a new case that comes into the office is the BEST the day the client first walks in the door. There are rare exceptions, but I have found this to be true. Sometimes, by no fault of the client, he or she failes to mention important information that is critical to the success or failure of the case. If I told every client “You have a great case” I’d spend the rest of my work relationship with the client explaining “Well, when I said that I didn’t know, blah, blah, blah.” The lawyer’s credibility begins to spiral downward.
When you are interviewing a lawyer to take your case and he or she says, “You have a great case,” RUN!! Lawyers, tell your clients you don’t know how strong a case they have until you have obtained (and read) the pertinent documents, interviewed the witnesses and researched the law. If you’ll do that, you will save yourself some tough conversations later. Don’t be afraid to say one of the top two phrases a lawyer hates to say…”I don’t know.”
By the way, the other phrase is, “I don’t practice in that area.” More on that one later…
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