Building a Good Relationship with Your Attorney

In our past blog posts, we have emphasized the importance of finding the right attorney for your case. Specifically, we discussed how it is important to not only find the right attorney in terms of the attorney’s skill, expertise and experience, but also in terms of their ability to work with you – is this someone you can work with? This theme will continue as we illustrate the importance of having a good relationship with the professional that will be representing your interests.

After completing your research to determine if your attorney has the requisite skill and expertise in the area of law that you need, and after attending a consultation to confirm this is someone you can work with, it is finally time to get to work on achieving the level of justice you seek. As you and your attorney begin to flesh out your case and develop legal strategies, it is also a good time to begin developing a healthy professional relationship with your attorney. Taking the time to learn how to build a successful relationship could potentially help your case go more smoothly.

• Be Honest: With any relationship, trust is a key element. When you visit the doctor, you must be open and honest about your symptoms for them to accurately diagnose you. The same line of thinking should be applied to your relationship with your attorney. Be honest when it comes to every aspect of your case, your expectations, and your concerns. Hiding information about your circumstances will only hurt you. Being fully open and truthful will help your attorney know how to best handle your case, navigate difficult issues, and meet your expectations. Knowing that you can trust your attorney and showing your attorney that they can trust you can help foster fruitful communication as your case develops.
• Communicate Effectively: As you begin to work with your attorney, it is important to know how they will communicate with you as your case progresses. Make sure that you understand who will be reaching out to you and how. Any busy attorney will have a legal team to assist them with building their cases and communicating with clients. Knowing to expect calls or emails from different team members from the office can help you keep up with any new developments and keep your case moving forward.
• Be Patient and Understanding: Being honest and understanding the communication process are great ways to help foster a healthy professional relationship with your attorney. But the best recommendation we can give is to remember to be patient. Be aware that the wheels of justice often turn slowly due to a myriad of issues beyond your case. Just because it seems things are going slowly does not mean your attorney is not doing their best to move your care forward. There may be unexpected delays that are out of their control, or a roadblock that they are trying to work around. Your attorney and their legal team are working to find the right solution for your case. Sometimes finding that solution requires more time and attention than originally expected. Getting into a patient mindset can not only help you as you wait, but it can also help your attorney and their team feel appreciated and trusted.

At the end of the day your attorney is there to help you, and they want to have a good working relationship with you. Help them help you through being open and honest about the details of your case, effectively communicating, and being patient with them and their team as they work to find the best strategy for your case. At Brooks, LeBoeuf, Foster & Gwartney, we have a team of experienced attorneys that are here to help you when there is Too Much At Stake to go with anyone else. To learn more about our firm Click Here. To read the other posts in our Legal Questions Blog Series Click Here.