Lawyers As Counselors: A Client-Centered Approach

Part One examines problems clients usually bring and covers the necessity of a client–centered approach. Part Two presents the questioning and listening skills that attorneys need to gather information while encouraging active client participation. Part Three explains how to develop a story from the client’s perspective, then to probe it for evidence in light of individual factual propositions; it also focuses on transactional matters, identifying the type of data lawyers need to elicit in almost all business dealings. Part Four examines the counseling process and how to help clients make decisions, which reflect their legal objectives and values.

Professor, University of California, Los Angeles