The Question Plan
| Author | John Hollander |
| Pages | 35-52 |
the question plan
chapter two
The Question Plan
: it is really that simple. ey hate
surprises, they hate spontaneity, and mostly, they hate disorder.
What are laws, after all? ey are rules to create order. at is
what we lawyers do. We create, interpret, and enforce rules.
So how do lawyers avoid disorder? ey prepare. If I
am to examine a key witness tomorrow, I gather up every-
thing I can nd that is relevant to that witness, read it all,
and then prepare an outline of how I will conduct the
examination. All this occurs before I open my mouth in
the presence of the witness.
e same principle holds true for client meetings.
Granted, some are unscheduled, but lawyers can antici-
pate even these to some extent. Lawyers can prepare for
most meetings, and especially those that they initiate.
What follows in this section is a series of thoughts
about preparation for meetings. If you are travelling to
Chicago, you can prepare a route of travel. Your itiner-
ary should contain as much detail as you think you will
need to feel comfortable about your trip: highways, exits,
rest stops, timing, things to see or do en route. e same
holds true for meetings.
Read on. I hope you enjoy the trip.
When to Prepare for an Interview
younger, I was eager to start whatever I
was doing right away: a meeting, an interview, an exam-
ination. As I gained experience, and as I made repeated
mistakes, I learned that preparation overcomes many in-
adequacies. I can remember many occasions in which I
wasted a half hour of my time — and more than that for
my client — when my expertise was totally unt for what
the client needed. I could not bill for that time and the
client went away feeling ill will towards my rm and me.
I can also remember meeting with clients where I was
prepared. e meetings were rarely contentious and the
clients were satised that they had received competent
advice. It did not take too long for me to realize that there
was a direct relationship between preparation and suc-
cessful lawyer-client relations.
The problem
professional, you may not have the time to
thoroughly prepare for a client meeting. And yet, if you
do prepare, you may fear that you will appear to be stilted
or preprogrammed. e rst problem risks you missing
things of importance during the interview; the second
risks alienating your client.
How do you reconcile the need to appear unrehearsed with
the need for thoroughness?
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