Focus on the Client

• Author: JOHN HOLLANDER
• Pages: 131-157

focus on the client



chapter five

Focus on the Client

   an eort to bring parties together.

e mutual goals are to reduce risk, stress, and legal costs.

“Mutual” suggests more than one person. It may take “two

to tango,” but in the case of legal disputes, those two likely

had dierent agendas before mediation began. It is the task

of the mediator to merge those agendas, at least briey, in

a common goal.

at puts the focus on each client. What is necessary to

accommodate this party, the client? Is the accommodation

possible? Is it reasonable to expect this from the opposition?

How does the lawyer deal with the client to make a

favourable settlement more likely? “Favourable” should

be dened as being better than the consequences of a fail-

ure to settle. Clients do not always agree to this denition.

“Success” means accomplishment of the initial goals, but

at what cost? Clients may not see things the same way

as their own lawyers, and management of client expecta-

tions is often the most dicult task for lawyers.

At mediation, events occur in real time. Clients may not

be on their best behaviour. ey may be ill, distracted, or

stressed; they may have trouble with the language, or suer

   



in the presence of the opposing party. In mediation, lawyers

and mediators have to confront the reality of what the parties

are undergoing at that moment. Delaying to another date

may not nd the clients in any better shape than they are

at that moment, and will give the clients more costs to face.

How lawyers handle their clients is a dicult and

complex topic. Lawyers are often poor listeners; they may

not read body language or unspoken nuance. Clients often

withhold information that their lawyers need to assess the

chances of success and the clients’ tolerance for risk.

In dealing with clients at mediation, lawyers face sev-

eral issues. When should they terminate the session? How

do they deal with misconduct, unbending positions, or

rejection of sound advice? How can the mediator help in

this regard? is chapter delves into issues that come up

with respect to the client as a central actor at mediation.

The Client’s Agenda

   in mind that clients are not sim-

ply adjuncts to the lawyer. Clients perceive events through

their own eyes, and not through the eyes of the lawyer.

One issue for the lawyer to confront is whether the client

understands what is happening; a second is whether the

client accepts the lawyer’s advice and guidance. What if

the lawyer is wrong? What if the specic tactic fails? What

are the client’s real objectives?

The client discount

   what the lawyer says. If the

lawyer says that the chances of success are  percent, the