Questions You Want Answered > How Can I Be a Good Client? > What makes a good client?
1. Pay your attorney's bill. On time. If you can't pay your bill for any reason, call your attorney and discuss it. Your attorney works hard for you; they give you their all. When you don't pay them and you don't attempt to pay them, they feel that you don't appreciate the value of their work. You know that's not true; it's common courtesy to call and talk about how you will pay them, and it lets them know you intend to pay them. None of us likes to work for people who don't appreciate us.
2. Open your mail. Timely. Your attorney is not sending you letters because they like it. They need you to be fully informed. They may need you to give them an answer or some documents that will help your case. If you don't open your mail, you will never know.
3. If your attorney gives you a deadline, meet it. They're not making up a due date just to make your life miserable. There's usually a court rule or other external deadline they need to meet, and they can't do it without your help. When you're late, they have to scramble, and that's when mistakes can be made. It also doesn't make them very happy with you. Being late can also cause court orders to be entered against you, and you don't want that to happen.
4. If you are asked to provide documents, do it, and do it timely. If you are not sure what documents are necessary, ask. When you provide the documents, provide all of the pages, put them in chronolgical or some other objective order. Your attorney charges you if they have to wade through your documents both to organize them and to determine what's missing.
5. Be accurate. For example, if you are filling in your financial statement, look at your receipts and average them; don't just guess. Anything you say or provide has to be objectively defensible, and that can only happen if you're accurate. Remember, your attorney needs accuracy to advise you on an acceptable course of action. If you are inaccurate, don't blame your lawyer if the result you receive isn't acceptable.
6. Be truthful. Your attorney is smart and good at what they do. The more prepared they are, the better they do their job. The truth almost always comes out. When you are not truthful, your attorney will inevitably learn the truth at an inopportune time, say, in the middle of your trial. Finding out early lets them figure out how to handle it. Finding out under the gun means there's nothing they can do to protect you.
7. Before you name someone as a witness, call them and ask them if they will testify for you. Lots of people tell you they will be glad to help, but they mean it in the abstract. When rubber hits the pavement, they are not so happy to be involved. You need to know that up front.
8. Be in therapy. A legal dispute is stressful and you need help dealing with the stress, at a minimum. Most people also need help coping with their grief. Your attorney would much rather have you speaking with a therapist than getting your coping advice from your Greek chorus of friends and relatives.
9. Think about what it is you need. Think about what your spouse needs. Think about what your children need. Assess with your attorney early on what they think will settle your case. Decide what you can live with. If you need to talk to outside advisors or to people who will be affected by your decisions, check with them early and not at the eleventh hour.
Last updated on September 5, 2013 by Karen Robbins, Attorney at Law