First, the source of the case channel
Except for a few well-known lawyers and clients, the source of most lawyer cases comes from the recommendation of others. This is because under normal circumstances, the parties will first find a lawyer through their circle of friends and contacts, and only when there is no way, will they find a lawyer in the way of blind cats hitting dead mice. (This also tells lawyers that it is very important to constantly improve their popularity and influence and expand their circle of friends and contacts in various ways. Just like the first sentence before the article, let others know that you are a lawyer and that you are a good lawyer. Whether it can be another matter. ).
Generally speaking, due to someone's recommendation, before communicating with the client for the first time, both parties have a certain understanding of each other's situation and a certain basis for establishing a trust relationship, but this understanding is very different from the basis for establishing trust, which largely determines whether the lawyer and the client can finally establish a trust relationship and the difficulty of establishing a trust relationship. The difference mainly depends on the following factors. As lawyers, we should have a clear understanding of this:
Difference factor
(1) Social identity and status of the referrer. The higher the social identity and status of the recommender, the more the customer believes; On the contrary, the lower the truster's trust, it is even only used as the source of information.
(2) the relationship between the recommender and the principal. The closer the relationship between the referee and the client, the more trust the client has in the referee, which can contribute to the success of lawyer negotiation to a great extent.
(3) the recommendation degree of the recommender. Whether the referee introduces casually or sells hard also determines the client's initial trust in the lawyer.
(4) The word-of-mouth and social popularity accumulated during the lawyer's practice. In many cases, in addition to the recommendation of the referee, the client will also know the lawyer through various channels. The reputation and social popularity accumulated in lawyers' practice can help clients build their trust in lawyers.
Second, prepare carefully.
Even if I am very professional and excellent, I can't know all kinds of criminal laws and regulations. This requires lawyers to do their homework in advance. Before communicating with customers, you may refer to relevant laws and regulations, judicial interpretations and similar precedents, so you must understand them first. In addition to professional knowledge, you should also know some other knowledge needed for handling cases, such as finance, finance, architecture and other knowledge that may be needed. Before communicating, we should determine what we need. If the recommender knows something about the customer, he should also know the basic situation of the customer in order to determine the appropriate communication method.
Lawyers are professionals who answer people's questions, and they sell intangible legal services, not things that can be used directly. The client's inner feelings and impressions of lawyers often become the most important factor in whether to entrust a lawyer. Lawyers can prepare their professional knowledge in advance and know the client's situation, which can better show their professional knowledge to the client and better meet the psychological needs of the client. I can also calmly deal with various questions raised by the client, such as answering questions, so as to gain the client's recognition and trust in the lawyer.
Third, pay attention to the details of communication.
The best place to communicate with clients is the law firm. This is very formal and formal. Secondly, the environment and atmosphere of the firm help to improve the probability of success (which is one of the reasons why large firms should constantly improve their office environment and conditions to create a tall image). When meeting, give priority to the customer's requirements. Because at this stage, the parties often face multiple choices. The sooner he seizes the opportunity, the more likely he is to succeed. If he misses it, he won't come again.
After agreeing on the time and place to meet with the customer, you must arrive on time. Whether a person is punctual often reflects a person's attitude and rigor. At this point, you should make a good impression on the client and show the rigor of the lawyer. Dress appropriately and behave appropriately, especially in a confident tone. No client wants to entrust a lawyer who has no confidence in himself.
After meeting the customer, don't rush into the subject. It is best to start with some simple greetings, introduce yourself, understand the basic situation of customers, and observe customers from it. Understand the personal quality, economic ability and attention to the case of the parties, form a preliminary judgment, and determine the communication mode on this basis. This requires lawyers to learn to observe the details and form their own views and understanding of things from the details.
Fourth, active but not exaggerated.
Lawyers need to listen patiently to the client's statement of the case, but they should not let the client play and imagine at will according to their own ideas, and should take the initiative in communication. In the process of the client's statement of the case, it is necessary to summarize in time, point out the focus of the problem, and put forward the questions in a targeted manner, so that the client can establish confidence in the lawyer with a proactive attitude. Answer customers' demands, whether reasonable or unreasonable, and control the whole communication rhythm. The specific methods vary from person to person, but there is only one goal, that is, to convince the client that you can provide him with valuable advice and help.
If you can give a clear answer as far as possible to the specific expected goal put forward by the client, you must presuppose that it is based on the situation stated by the client. What I object to is that some lawyers, in order to gain the trust of their clients, do everything they can to cater to their clients, hold the idea that they can't talk about it any more, and even make false promises even when they know that their demands can't be realized. This not only violates the professional ethics of lawyers, but also has great potential legal risks and is prone to problems. Although criminal cases have the characteristics of contingency and randomness, there is no need to deliberately protect customers, but it is definitely not just a transaction. In the long run, it will have a negative impact on its professional reputation and word of mouth, and it is impossible to become bigger and stronger.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) reasonable and accurate quotation
Criminal cases are different from civil and commercial cases. There is no basis for calculating and referring to attorney fees, and relevant regulations do not allow risk agency. Therefore, how to quote customers is a big problem.
In criminal cases, there are two problems: insufficient collection and non-collection. Insufficient collection means that the lawyer may have charged more agency fees, but he did not receive enough because of the low quotation; If you don't receive it, the lawyer's quotation is too high, and the parties are unable or unwilling to pay, missing business opportunities. In order to avoid insufficient payment and non-payment, lawyers should consider the client's ability to pay and the client's willingness to pay when quoting.
The customer's willingness to pay is a very important factor in determining the lawyer's fee quotation. Different people have different understandings and views on money and expect to achieve different goals. Why is it different to hire a lawyer? Some people will spare no effort at all costs, and some people will be there. Value? With what? Not worth it? Weigh and consider. All these determine the client's willingness to pay and the lawyer's fee he can accept.
On the other hand, the lawyer's reputation and social influence will also affect the client's willingness to pay. Clients generally know that barristers and lawyers need to pay more lawyer fees. This is different from what ordinary doctors or experts in small hospitals and large hospitals see in the same disease. Therefore, lawyers should also combine their status and reputation when quoting, and should not sell cheaply and overestimate.
Since the biggest cost of lawyer's work is time and energy, the quotation should also consider the problem of time and energy. We need to make a preliminary assessment of the expected workload to see if it is worthwhile and willing, and determine a price that we can finally accept in advance.
In my long-term lawyer career, I have such an experience: the more you can communicate, the more able you are to pay the lawyer's fees, and the lawyers who represent the later cases will generally be smooth and the cooperation between them will be very happy; The more difficult it is to communicate, the parties who haggle over the legal fees will often have many problems in the later stage. Personally, I don't want to take a case for the sake of taking a case. I will choose my client according to my own strengths, whether I can accept and tolerate the methods and attitudes of the client to people. Generally, I don't try my best to take a case, which makes me feel bad in the future.