Unit 5: Supporting Clients to Engage

• A client who walks into an adviser's office knowing why they are there, and what the adviser can and cannot do for them will be better able to focus on their case than one who is not sure.
• A client who has been advised by a third party that their adviser is regulated and must act in their best interests will be less suspicious, better able forge a relationship of trust, and more likely to take on board difficult or unfavourable advice.
• A client who is expecting to be actively involved in their case will be more likely to do the things their adviser has asked them to do.
• A client who walks into a meeting with his adviser with a pen and paper to take notes with will be much more likely to remember their solicitor's advice!

• Brief clients on the role an adviser plays and on their duties
• If there is doubt about whether an adviser is regulated, you can check this for the client (see Appendix 1, below)
• Encourage and help clients to gather together and organise any relevant papers before meetings, wherever possible
• If referral may take some time, help a client to make a subject access request, or to request their file from a previous adviser
• Help clients to obtain 'evidence of means' if relying on legal aid
• Help clients to follow their adviser's advice - e.g. by giving clients access to computers, phones, faxes, stationary etc.
• Encourage clients to only contact their advisers when it is appropriate, for example:
  • When they have significant new information or evidence for their adviser, or
  • When they have not heard from their adviser for some months, or
  • When they need to take action of some kind in relation to their case which may require advice (e.g. attending an interview, explaining a missed reporting event, etc.)

You will find a leaflet in this curriculam that you can use to help clients understand their adviser's duties and role, and how the client can work with their adviser.

Sometimes solicitors have access to documents or information that we need to assist a client.

• Good solicitors are rightly paranoid about maintaining client confidentiality
  • They will not share details of a client's case with you without a client's permission, usually in writing
  • The fact that you referred a client to them does not mean it is safe for them to assume they have that client's permission to speak with you
  • If you want a timely response from a solicitor, it is good practice to always include written permission from the client for the solicitor to disclose details of the case to you
• A solicitor's duties towards a client do not end when the case ends
  • The SRA Principles require solicitors to act in the best interests of each client
  • They define a client as "the person for whom you act and, where the context permits, [this] includes prospective and former clients."
• If a previous solicitor is not responding to enquiries, write a letter or email with the following:
  • The client's permission to disclose information (again if necessary!)
  • A statement of what you want from them
  • A brief history of your attempts to contact them to obtain this
  • Why it is in the client's best interests for them to provide this / what is likely to happen to the client if they don't
  • A reference to the SRA Principles, in particular #7 (best interests) and how any failure to assist will breach those principles