Tips for Paralegals to Conduct Perfect Client Interviews

After some time in your profession, one case begins to look like any other. While it may feel like that to you and to the other attorneys and paralegals in the office, the case is unique and is definitely of significance to the client. His or her physical or mental health, freedom, business future, or family life may be riding on the outcome of the case.
 

 

Keep the importance of each case in the back of your mind at all times. What seems routine and standard to you can be mind-boggling and frightening to the client. Most people unfamiliar with our legal system can find the process of working with a lawyer to be highly intimidating.

Most people come to a law office in a high degree of emotion. They may be suffering from the ill effects of a highly stressful family problem, personal injury, business catastrophe, recent death of a loved one, immigration problem, or criminal matter. Try to provide some small amount of comfort, at least by offering your sympathy when it seems necessary, and the promise of support from you and your firm.

This is not to say you should live and die with every case, pouring your emotions into every "shaggy-dog" story that comes into the office, but rather, that you keep a balanced perspective concerning the importance of the case to all the participants—clients, defendants, witnesses, etc.

Some people merely want to hear you say, "Our firm understands your case very well. We've handled a number of similar cases and we've had good results. Your attorney has a strong background in these types of cases and will know what to do for you."

A few statements of encouragement from you (along with the attorney) can go a long way toward improving the client's peace of mind. This can create good feelings all around, meaning better communication between the client and the firm, an easier path to settling the case, and with luck, a helpful referral to other potential clients in the future.

After your first interview meeting with the client, try to schedule a short meeting with the attorney handling the case. This is a good time to bring up any questions or concerns you might have, and it offers an opportunity to ask for some directions. The attorney may want you to tackle certain problems surrounding the case, make special phone calls, start researching critical issues, or just handle the case in a manner similar to the way you handled others in the past.

These initial attorney-paralegal meetings can last from one minute to one hour, depending on the complexity of the case and other time pressures. Make sure you feel comfortable with your role in the case before you leave.

Back at your desk, you should already be planning your next moves: start a new client file, organize your notes from the client interview, make a list of the phone calls you'll need to make, draft various letters, make calendar notations, etc.

Before you plunge ahead on any case handed to you, stop and get a feel for it. If it's a new case, review your notes and organize a plan of attack. If it's an ongoing case, read the file, read the reports and other significant documentation, and review the memos, briefs, and correspondence before you do anything else. Look things over carefully to avoid future embarrassments, mistakes, or repetitions.

Some law firms ask their paralegals to initiate and conduct all witness interviews for accident, criminal, and similar cases. In these instances, you'll want to follow some careful guidelines to avoid any problems later (when they're usually too large to fix). Using paralegals saves money, and many firms like to give their staffs the chance to track the case from start to finish.

Other firms rely on outside or in-house investigators to handle witness statements. You must defer to the wishes of your firm. Good investigators can quickly take a number of witness statements and give you the information within days instead of weeks. If you're called on to do any witness interviews, you should start by taking a close look at the way you listen to people. While this may sound like teaching the choir to sing, interviewing is a high-skill activity.

For the majority of us, the opposite of talking is not listening, but waiting to talk again. Learn to listen "actively" by paraphrasing what the other person has said and filling in what you don't know, e.g., "Mr. Jones, if I heard you correctly, what you said was . .

 

1. Be open and receptive with your body language.
2. Hear all of what the other person says before you respond.
3. Don't interrupt or finish sentences for the other person.
4. Interpret the other person's message by listening for feelings as well as facts.
5. Act on what he or she has said.

Before you even start any client or witness interview session, develop your paraphrasing skills.

According to "Verbal Judo" seminar leader George Thompson, "is a necessary backup system to communication. It means putting the other person's 'meaning' into your 'words' and then giving it back to him."

In his technique of replaying what the other person has said and putting it into your own words can pay powerful dividends during any interview. It will help you build immediate rapport with the person.

Paraphrasing allows you to get the information right the first time. the other person can correct you if you've made an error, and the paraphrased statement makes him or her feel better because it mirrors what he or she originally said to you.

"It also," says Thompson, "makes the other person a better listener to you. No one will listen harder than to his or her own point of view."

Paraphrasing also has a tendency to create an aura of empathy with your client's case because the person will believe you are really trying to understand what happened.

See the following articles for more information:

• 21 Major Interview Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
   
• The Best Way to Prepare for a Job Search and Interviews
   
• How to Talk About Other Interviews in Your Interviews
   
• How to Answer the Tell Me About Yourself Interview Question
   
• How to Answer the Do You Have Any Questions for Me Interview Question