By: Correy Stephenson, BridgeTower Media Newswires//September 27, 2013//
By: Correy Stephenson, BridgeTower Media Newswires//September 27, 2013//
A lost summary judgment motion. A lowball offer to settle. The denial of an appeal.
Lawyers frequently are the bearers of bad news.
How do you break bad news to a client? Gently? Or rip off the Band-Aid? Via email or in person?
Practice management consultants and attorneys agree that lawyers must walk a fine line: Be direct but be positive; try to deliver bad news face to face but consider the clientâs preferences; and, most importantly, prepare the client at the outset of the relationship for a variety of potential results.
Jared Correia, a senior practice advisor at the Law Office Management Assistance Program in Boston, urged attorneys to lay the appropriate groundwork early in the client relationship for the possibility of bad news later on.
âLawyers should lay out the potential consequences of different actions and make sure that clients understand the broad range of things that can happen,â he said. âThe client has to know that a negative result is possible and that if we do X, Y can happen or Z can happen.â
If a judge has refused to exclude certain evidence or a deposition proved damaging, the groundwork helps begin the subsequent discussion, Correia said, by referring back to the prior conversation: âRemember when we talked about X, Y and Z?â
When they talk about trouble, lawyers should be prepared, he said, to explain what happens next, which also provides an opportunity to be positive.
Correia suggested saying, âNow that Z has happened, here are two or three possible paths we can take,â such as appealing a decision or maybe considering a settlement if the court certified a class action.
âThat makes it easier to break the bad news,â he added.
Attorney Declan Leonard of McLean, Va., stressed that communication is the key.
âSet realistic expectations up front with the client,â he said.
In addition to laying out all possible outcomes â both positive and negative â at the beginning of the case, lawyers should continue discussions throughout the course of the representation about what might happen, Leonard advised.
âIf a client isnât aware of the potential outcomes,â he said, âand believes there is no way we can lose this case, then you have a lot of explaining to do when it doesnât go your way.â
Timing and delivery
âDelivering bad news is the thing I was least prepared to do when I became a lawyer,â said Virginia personal injury attorney Kyle McNew, of MichieHamlett Law Firm. âIt is painful to realize there is nothing you can do to help a client.â
But while bad news may be unpleasant to deliver, donât sit on it, he said.
âOne of the senior partners likes to say that bad news isnât like wine; it doesnât get better with age,â McNew said.
Heather Cooper, a family law attorney in Fairfax, Va., noted that time is of the essence before the client hears the news from someone else. In a divorce case, for example, she does not want her client to hear from the spouse about a court ruling before she reaches out.
The delivery of news depends on the client, McNew said, with an evaluation of how the client will best understand the information.
In some situations, he sends a message that lays out the details of what happened and includes a note to call him at the clientâs earliest convenience. For clients who prefer communication via email, this method âgives them the opportunity,â McNew said, âto absorb and process everything and reflect rather than having to react immediately.â
Other clients require an in-person meeting, he said.
âI have a client right now,â he said, âthat breaking bad news over the phone or electronically would be devastating.â
Factors such as age (younger clients may prefer to communicate electronically) and sophistication (a client who does not excel at reading comprehension should not receive a court brief as an explanation) should be considered, as well.
Cooper said she prefers to deliver bad news in person or on the phone.
âClients oftentimes have follow-up questions and a lot of concerns,â she said, âand I find it easier to do in a personal conversation than with lots of back-and-forth in writing.â
Before she sits down with a client or picks up the phone, however, she does some preparation.
âI always try to look for a silver lining or another door opening when one is closed,â Cooper said.
Particularly with more emotional clients, Cooper will start out by reminding the client about some positive issues, break the bad news, and try to conclude with options for how to deal with the bad news.
She also blocks off âfollow-upâ time.
âI will hang up the phone and in five minutes it will ring and the client will want to talk again,â Cooper said. She gives her paralegal and assistant a heads-up when she is delivering bad news, so that they are prepared to be even more patient and understanding with the client.
And allow clients the space to be upset, Correia said.
âItâs not necessarily what you say but how you say it,â he said. âSpeak in a lowered voice and donât sound excited. After you deliver the bad news, listen to what the client has to say and show that you care about their reaction.â
Be clear and direct, he said.
âA lot of attorneys try to sugarcoat bad news and that can lead to a misunderstanding,â Correia said, adding that if a client does storm off or hang up the phone, give that person time to cool down before you re-engage.
Particularly if the case is ongoing, the attorney will need to communicate with the client again, and a little time may allow cooler heads to prevail.
McNew encouraged attorneys to be willing to admit when they made a mistake.
âIf Iâm going to pursue a doctor for medical malpractice for his mistakes,â he said, âI ought to be able to have thick enough skin to look a client in the eye and say, âI messed up.ââ
Manage expectations
âOne thing that should never happen,â McNew said, âis having to call a client and tell them that this thing they never saw coming just happened.â
The better alternative, he said, is to call and say, âRemember that thing we said could happen but we hoped it wouldnât? Well, it happened.â
Legal columnist Ed Poll suggested that attorneys provide clients with a budget at the beginning of the case that includes not only costs but also potential outcomes and paths that the case could take.
âReally prepare your client,â Poll said, âso that they know it could not go well and make sure that it is a continuing dialogue.â
He also advocated for greater inclusion of the client in the process so that a team mentality develops.
âThat way, no matter how bad the outcome,â Poll said, âthe client will have a hard time criticizing because they were involved in the decision.â
For example, when working on a motion for summary judgment, discuss with the client whether to disclose certain information.
âExplain that the other side doesnât know the information yet and if we disclose it now, it may come back to bite us down the road,â he said, âBut if we include it in the motion, we could be successful and end the case now.
What do you think we should do?â
Giving the client a level of responsibility requires them to take some accountability later on.
Client participation may also help.
Having a client present at trial helps them to see the process, McNew said, and witnessing the juryâs verdict allows someone else to deliver potentially bad news.
And, of course, bad news may turn out to be not so bad, Leonard noted.
He used the example of noncompete litigation, in which one party seeks an injunction against the other. At first blush, a courtâs injunction against a client would definitely be called bad news.
âBut the devilâs in the details,â he said, âand it is important to parse through the order and understand exactly what a client can and cannot do,â which may take some of the sting out of the loss.