Initial interviews

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.

This practice note has been updated to take account of the SRA Code of Conduct 2011.

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1.3 Professional conduct

The following sections of the SRA Code of Conduct 2011 are relevant to an initial interview:

• Chapter 1 - Client care
• Chapter 3 - Conflict of interests
• Chapter 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 legislation or of a principle, rule, outcome or other mandatory provision in the SRA Handbook. You must comply, unless there are specific exemptions or defences provided for in relevant legislation or the SRA Handbook.

Should

• Outside of a regulatory context, good practice for most situations in the Law Society's view.
• In the case of the SRA Handbook, an indicative behaviour or other non-mandatory provision (such as may be set out in notes or guidance).

These may not be the only means of complying with legislative or regulatory requirements and there may be situations where the suggested route is not the best possible route to meet the needs of your client. However, if you do not follow the suggested route, 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 or running your practice. Which option you choose is determined by the profile of the individual practice, client or retainer. You may be required to justify why this was an appropriate option to oversight bodies.

SRA Code - SRA Code of Conduct 2011

2007 Code - Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007

OFR - Outcomes-focused regulation

SRA - Solicitors Regulation Authority

IB - indicative behaviour

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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

At the start of an engagement you must provide clients with the best possible information about the cost of a matter. This includes providing clients with information about the costs for the initial interview (see section 4.2). You must also inform them if the services you are providing are regulated, by whom they are regulated and how this affects the protections available to the client.

At the start of any matter you must inform clients, in writing, of their right to complain, including their right to complain about the bill and how they can complain. You must also inform them, in writing, of their right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, the timeframe for doing so and their contact details. More information about this can be found in our complaints handling practice note.

When the client attends the interview you should explain to them the name and status of the solicitor or other person conducting the interview

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 information provided to the client should 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 17(5) of the SRA's Accounts Rules 2011.
• 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 SRA Code 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

Outcome 1.12 requires that clients are put in a position to make informed decisions about the services they need, how their matter will be handled and the options available to them. To help you meet this objective, you should take the time to understand what your client really wants and needs. This will enable you to explain the relevant options and 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 should also explain your responsibilities and those of your clients.

You must only enter into fee arrangements which are suitable for your clients needs and take account of their best interests (outcome 1.6). You should explain any fee sharing or referral arrangements to the clients and any limitations or conditions on what you can do for your client, for example, because of the way your client's matter is funded

There are specific chapters in the Code regarding introductions to third parties (chapter 6) and fee sharing and referrals (chapter 9).

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7.3 Your advice

Chapter 1 of the SRA Code of conduct provides that you should:

• agree with the client an appropriate level of service
• explain your responsibilities and their responsibilities
• whether the outcomes to be achieved justify the risk and expense

You should also explain the options available to them. This will help you achieve outcome 1.12.

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.

Outcome 1.13 of the SRA Code provides that you must ensure your client receives the best information possible about the likely overall cost of a matter at the outset and where appropriate as their matter progresses. You should 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 should be presented in a format which is clear, accessible and appropriate to the needs and circumstances of your client. You should warn clients about any other payments a client may be responsible over and above your fees.

The information provided must not be inaccurate or misleading.

During the interview you may 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:

• Chapter 1 and related guidance in the SRA Code
• Law Society Practice Advice Service booklets

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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 chapter 3 of the SRA Code.
• 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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11 More information and products

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