First, the communication between lawyers and clients is divided into two stages: receiving work and working.
The acceptance stage means that you have been approached by a client who wants to consult the case and knows how to hire a lawyer. At this point, the principal-agent relationship between the two parties has not yet been established. Lawyers' cases are hard-won, and most of them are introduced by word of mouth. It is not easy to find a party, so cherish it. Therefore, the main purpose of lawyers' communication with clients at this stage should be to try their best to retain clients and facilitate the signing of contracts, that is, to accept cases and collect money. Specific communication skills are as follows:
(1) If the client is calling for consultation, it is suggested that the telephone communication between the lawyer and the client should be as brief as possible, try to interview the client, and be sure to invite the client to his office as much as possible. Because if the client has nothing to say after telephone consultation, the lawyer not only loses his precious case source, but also gains nothing. And if the client can come to the office, even if the contract can't be signed, at least the lawyer will get the following benefits:
1, can leave a good impression on the parties.
You can leave your business card with the customer. Customers may find you through friends or media advertisements. Leaving a business card can ensure that customers can find you directly in the future.
3. You can copy the identity materials of the parties and file the case materials.
4. Consulting fees can be charged. Lawyers themselves know whether to charge this fee according to the specific circumstances.
(two) if the parties request to meet, lawyers should pay attention to the following points:
Don't talk about the case immediately after the meeting. The following preliminary work must be done well: first, hand in your business card, hand in water after the client sits down, and briefly introduce the law firm and yourself after the client takes a break and breathes. If the lawyer decides to charge the consulting fee, he should inform the client of the charging standard at this time and specify the starting time of the consultation (it is best to put a table on the table).
Before the formal conversation, the lawyer must ask the client two questions. First, has the client consulted other lawyers about this case before? Second, has the client ever cooperated with a lawyer before?
6, while talking about the case. For lawyers, the economic strength of the parties is directly related to whether they can sign a contract and the amount of legal fees. Therefore, when communicating with the client, lawyers should not stick to the case, but should pay attention to understanding the client's industry, occupation, work and education background, income or family assets through conversation. After mastering the client's financial situation, should the lawyer decide what kind of relationship to establish with the client according to the case, or only charge consulting fees? Or we can negotiate an agent? Or can we talk about legal consulting business? At this time, lawyers should try to negotiate business at high fees.
7. If the parties agree to pay the consultation fee, the lawyer should control the consultation time. Although less than an hour is charged by the hour, if it is too far away from the whole hour, the parties will feel uncomfortable. My experience is: let the client state the case completely first, and then the lawyer will repeat it and ask the client what he has to add. After talking about the case, the lawyer will make a legal analysis. If the time is not close to the whole hour, the lawyer can explain some legal terms or introduce some similar cases to the parties.
1 1. The most important thing is not to make too detailed and in-depth analysis of the case before the parties have signed the contract. For those who don't pay the consulting fee, only tell the case strategically, and don't point out the direction to solve the problem for them; For the parties who pay the consulting fee, briefly talk about the case and point out the direction to solve the problem.
12. If both parties decide to sign the contract but don't bring enough money, they should be required to leave a deposit.
13, criminal cases and some major civil and commercial cases, it is best to have two lawyers for the interview.
Lawyers should also let nature take its course.
Two, the work stage, refers to the stage of signing a contract with the parties to provide specific legal services for the parties (clients). Specific communication skills are as follows:
1. In the case of losing the case, it is necessary to fully explain the legal risks to the parties and reduce their unrealistic psychological expectations of the results. (Make a written notice of litigation risk for the client to sign).
2. Whether it is a specially authorized (discretionary) agent or a general agent, a lawyer must obtain the consent of the client before disposing of the substantive rights of the client. For major cases, written permission is also needed.
Report the progress of legal proceedings to the client at any time, and don't contact your client for more than a week.
4. Pay attention to the ways and details of communication. For example, if the court informs the court to hold a court session next week, I will tell the parties the time and place of the court session by SMS. If the customer doesn't reply to the text message, I need to call directly. If the customer says on the phone that he didn't receive the message, he will send the message again after the phone call. Because short messages can be stored in the client's mobile phone for easy access. In addition, one day before the court session, the above communication methods should be repeated to prevent the client from forgetting and inform the client of the address and location of the court. If it's the first time for a lawyer to go, you can step on the spot first or get to know others clearly. Similarly, the lawyer must reply in time after receiving the short message from the client.
5. Before the end of the agency work, try to keep a certain distance from the client, especially the client who cooperates for the first time, and don't confuse work with life.
6. Inform the parties to inform themselves in time after receiving any notice from the court, because the parties often think that the court will inform both themselves and their lawyers, but in fact the court will only inform one of them. Therefore, lawyers should indicate their contact information, including telephone number and address zip code, in the letter of appearance and power of attorney submitted to the court. Some lawyers simply write the contact information of the parties directly in their mobile phone numbers, which is a good way in the complaint or defense.
10. On the day before the trial, not only should the client be reminded of the trial time again, but also the matters needing attention in the trial should be made an appointment or at least communicated by telephone as far as possible to dispel the client's nervousness in court, and at the same time, the trial countermeasures should be communicated with the client.