1 Introduction
1.1 Who should read this practice note?
This practice note is relevant to all solicitors who conduct initial interviews with clients.
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1.2 What is the issue?
Many clients will seek an initial interview with a practice to explore their legal options in a given situation.
This is a good opportunity to understand what services your client wants and to agree with the client the terms and conditions for providing your services. Effective communication during the initial client interview reduces the chances of disputes arising later in the retainer.
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1.3 Professional conduct
The following sections of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007 (the code of conduct) are relevant to an initial interview:
- Rule 2.01 Taking on clients
- Rule 2.02 Client care
- Rule 2.03 Information about the cost
- Rule 3 Conflict of interests
- Rule 4 Confidentiality and disclosure
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1.4 Status of this practice note
Practice notes are issued by the Law Society for the use and benefit of its members. They represent the Law Society's view of good practice in a particular area. They are not intended to be the only standard of good practice that solicitors can follow. You are not required to follow them, but doing so will make it easier to account to oversight bodies for your actions.
Practice notes are not legal advice, nor do they necessarily provide a defence to complaints of misconduct or of inadequate professional service. While care has been taken to ensure that they are accurate, up to date and useful, the Law Society will not accept any legal liability in relation to them.
For queries or comments on this practice note contact the Law Society's Practice Advice Service.
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1.5 Terminology
Must - a specific requirement in the Solicitors' Code of Conduct or legislation. You must comply, unless there are specific exemptions or defences provided for in the code of conduct or relevant legislation.
Should - good practice for most situations in the Law Society's view. If you do not follow this, you should be able to justify to oversight bodies why the alternative approach you have taken is appropriate, either for your practice, or in the particular retainer.
May - a non-exhaustive list of options for meeting your obligations. Which option you choose is determined by the risk profile of the individual practice, client or retainer. You must be able to justify why this was an appropriate option to oversight bodies.
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1.6 More information and products
1.6.1 Law Society
- Practice Advice Service
- Training - regular programmes on client care and complaints management
- Lexcel - our practice management standard, awarded only to practices meeting the highest management and customer care standards
- Law Management Section - join for support and training
- Law Society publications - order from our bookshop
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1.6.2 Other
1.6.3 Law Society publications
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2 Basis on which initial interviews are conducted
Many practices will offer new clients an initial interview to discuss their legal requirements, discover what assistance the practice can provide and outline the likely costs.
Existing clients seeking to re-instruct the practice may also be offered an initial interview to discuss the new retainer.
These initial interviews may be offered free of charge, for a fixed fee or for a reduced rate.
Marketing material advertising these interviews, or staff offering them to prospective or existing clients should be clear on all of the following:
- who can take advantage of these interviews
- the purpose and scope of the interviews
- the basis for costing, if any, of the interview
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3 Initial information obtained from the client
3.1 Conflict information
You should obtain information from the client before the interview to check for conflicts with existing clients. Occasionally, clients will use the initial interview process to deliberately create conflicts and prevent you continuing to act in a matter.
When an appointment is made in advance, even if it is a meeting out of the office, the following information should be obtained from the client:
- name, address and telephone number
- field of law involved, eg matrimonial or crime
- name of the opponent or others involved in the matter if applicable
This information will enable you to conduct a conflict check and to cancel the interview if there is a conflict.
If your practice provides interviews on a walk-in basis, then these checks should be done before the interview takes place and if the checks reveal a conflict, no interview should take place.
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3.2 Identity information
Conducting conflict checks will provide you with some identity information from the client. The anti-money laundering regulations require that if the client wants you to act in matters involving regulated activities, you must also obtain evidence to verify that identification information.
The general position is that you must obtain evidence of identity before commencing a business relationship or carrying out an occasional transaction in relation to regulated activities. However, this may be delayed where you are merely ascertaining the legal position of the client, or if the matter is low risk and is necessary to avoid interrupting the normal conduct of business.
As such, you may conduct the initial interview without verifying the client's identity in relation to regulated activities as long as you are only providing legal advice and not conducting transactional work.
If you continue with the retainer, you should follow your practice's processes for obtaining evidence of identity before undertaking any transactional work on the file. Some practices may choose to ask clients to bring evidence of their identity with them to the initial interview to reduce delays in proceeding with the retainer.
For further information on verification of a client's identity, see the Law Society's Anti-money laundering practice note.
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4 Initial information given to the client
4.1 Pro forma information
When the client attends the interview the following information must be explained to them and confirmed in writing:
- name and status of the solicitor or other person conducting the interview
- information on the costs for the interview (see section 4.2)
- details of who to contact if they have a complaint
This information can be prepared in a pro forma document in advance. You should take the client through the information and ask them to sign and date the document to acknowledge receipt. You should make a copy of the signed document to retain on your files.
It may be useful for the client to have information about your practice's area of practice and relevant contact details. You may include this in the pro forma document because the client will be taking this away with them.
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4.2 Costs of the initial interview
The written information provided to the client must clearly state the basis for the costs in relation to the interview. Examples include:
- The interview is free.
- The cost of the whole interview is £x.
- The cost of the interview is at a reduced cost of £x per hour pro rata.
- The first y minutes are free, and thereafter they will be charged pro rata at the rate of £x per hour.
When receiving the fees from the initial interview:
- If you have an agreed fee, ie the cost of the whole interview is £x, this is office money and must be paid into the office account in accordance with rule 19(5) of the Solicitor's Accounts Rules 1998.
- If you do not have an agreed fee, then this is money paid on account of costs. It is thus client money and must be paid into the client account.
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5 Non face-to-face interviews
Some initial interviews may be conducted by telephone or video conference link. This may require you to alter your normal procedures for initial interviews.
You can still conduct conflict checks as you would for a face-to-face interview. In relation to identity checks you should refer to our anti-money laundering practice note for extra requirements where you do not meet your client face-to-face.
In relation to the initial information about the interview and its costs to be provided to the client, you should consider:
- e-mailing or faxing the information to the client before the interview and seeking a return e-mail or fax confirming their acceptance
- discussing these matters during the interview, obtaining their acceptance of the terms and making a contemporaneous note of this.
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6 Confidentiality
The duty of confidentiality in Rule 4 of the code of conduct applies to information obtained in the initial interview, even if the matter goes no further.
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7 The interview - main areas to cover
7.1 Client's objectives
Rule 2.02 provides that you must identify your client's objectives. You should take the time to understand what your client really wants and needs. This will enable you to tailor your services in a way that increases efficiency and client satisfaction.
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7.2 Your role
Many clients will rarely engage a solicitor, so will be unfamiliar with how the relationship between a solicitor and a client operates, or the legal processes which apply to their situation.
You should take time to explain your role and the relevant services you provide or do not provide. You must also advise the client of any relationships you have with third parties, such as an introducer or fee sharer, that affect the steps you can take on the client's behalf. See Rule 2.02 in the code of conduct Rule 2.02.
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7.3 Your advice
Rule 2 of the code of conduct provides that you must explain to the client:
- the issues involved with their matter
- the options available to them
- your responsibilities
- whether the outcomes to be achieved are worth the risk and expense
You should outline in clear terms the general process that will apply to their situation. For example, outline the steps which take place in a conveyance or the stages in litigating a personal injuries case.
When providing this overview, you should include information on:
- likely complications which commonly arise in relation to the particular type of matter
- the different ways a particular matter could progress
For example:
- When completing a conveyance, it may be common to find that certain extensions on the property do not have planning approval and if this occurs there will be a new set of options for the client to consider.
- A personal injuries case may settle once you make the claim, or after mediation, or it may require a full trial.
By providing this information at an early stage, the client is more likely to understand that this is a normal part of the legal process, rather than assuming you did not handle the matter properly.
You should also provide general timeframes within which the client can expect completion of the transaction or resolution of the case. The client will then feel more involved in the process, reducing the chance that they complain about delay or a lack of information.
When discussing the issue of risk, you should make it clear that any assessment of risk provided is a realistic estimate based on the information the client has provided you. You should make a record of the risk estimate provided, so that if the retainer proceeds, you can monitor developments in the risk levels and update your client accordingly.
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7.4 The costs of the retainer
Failure to provide adequate costs information is one of the areas most likely to result in a client complaint.
Rule 2.03 of the code of conduct provides that you must give your client the best information possible about the likely overall cost of a matter at the outset. You must also discuss with them whether the likely outcome of the matter will justify the risks involved.
The client needs to really understand the cost implications of proceeding with a matter, before they can make an informed decision on whether to proceed and whether to retain your practice. To promote this level of understanding you should communicate all costs information in plain English and in a way which makes it clear to the client exactly what they will be getting for the money they will pay. The information provided must not be inaccurate or misleading.
You must provide detailed written costs information to the client if the retainer proceeds. During the interview you should provide a simple overview of the likely costs. You should consider the points outlined in the rest of section 7.4 in developing this overview.
For further advice on providing costs information see:
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7.4.1 Best information possible
Giving the best information possible includes:
- agreeing a fixed fee
- giving a realistic estimate
- giving a forecast within a possible range of costs
- explaining why overall costs cannot be fixed or realistically estimated - instead give the best information possible about the cost of the next date of the matter.
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7.4.2 Providing details of charges
You must make it clear how charges are calculated. You should provide advice during the interview on:
- relevant hourly rates and an estimate of the time to be charged
- whether rates may be increased during the period of the retainer
- expected disbursements and likely timeframes for these being due
- potential liability for others' costs (where relevant)
- VAT liability
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7.4.3 Method of payment
You should discuss with the client how and when any costs are to be paid. In doing so, you should consider whether the client may:
- be eligible for legal aid and should apply for it
- be offered a conditional fee agreement
- have insurance that may cover another party's costs - if they do not, you should consider whether to advise the client to seek after the event insurance to cover such costs
- seek payment of the costs from another person such as an employer or trade union
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7.4.4 Other points
You must provide costs information to the client even where the client will not themselves be paying for your services. For example, if they are publicly funded, covered by insurance or instructing you under a conditional fee agreement.
If the matter is contentious, you must outline the circumstances in which the client may be liable for the costs of other parties, including where they are successful and obtain an award for costs.
You should outline your standard billing arrangements and discuss any requirements for receiving funds on account.
You should, in appropriate cases, explain that the client may set an upper limit on the costs which the practice may incur without further authority and that you will contact them in writing when this limit is being approached to discuss the issue of costs further.
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8 Terminating the retainer
Throughout the initial interview you need to be alert to any circumstances that would require you to terminate the retainer. Such circumstances include:
- There is a conflict of interest which precludes you from acting under Rule 3 of the code of conduct.
- You are being asked to breach the law or the code of conduct if you fulfil the retainer.
- Your practice does not have the experience or the resources to fulfil the retainer.
- You believe the instructions are provided under duress or as a result of undue influence and do not represent the true wishes of the client.
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9 Follow-up after the interview
You should write to the client confirming the discussions held during the initial interview if:
- you agreed to do so during the initial interview
- you want to record the advice you have given so that there can be no misunderstanding
- you agree to act further for the client
If you are continuing with the retainer, you should ensure that specific items agreed during the interview are included in any written terms and conditions sent to the client.
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10 Records
Following the interview, your notes should be kept with the copy of the information form that the client signed. These documents will form the basis of the client file if you agree to act further for the client. If the retainer is not proceeding, you should still file these documents as a record of the interview.
You should retain these documents in accordance with your practice's file retention policy.
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