Why lawyers (don't) make the worst clients

At a CPD event some 15 years ago, a senior lawyer I was chatting with offered me some advice. He took me aside and said that as a young lawyer there was one thing I should know.

"Never act for lawyers. They make the worst clients! Deep down inside, they know they need your help, but half the time won't admit it to themselves. They'll keep telling you how to do your job. They can't help themselves! Then they'll complain about how much it all costs, because they think they 'did all the work' and it was such a 'simple matter' anyway. Then they argue with your advice and blame you for the outcome when what you told them would happen, happens. Don't go near them with a barge pole, they're the worst clients you'll have!"

Whether he'd had a bad day, just lost an argument with a 'learned client' or his brain and soul had retired without telling his body to stop turning up to work; that colleague had looked absolutely worn out when he shared his wisdom. It was as if he'd had a fundamentally bad experience which made him vow never to act for a colleague again.

Happily, having conscientiously ignored that colleague's advice for over a decade and routinely acting for lawyers, my experience has been very different.

While I'd never deliberately set out to act for lawyers, the majority of referrals I receive are from practitioners, some of whom I know personally and many of whom I have never met. As a solicitor advocate, accredited mediator and accredited specialist in commercial litigation; I am also often instructed by colleagues who prefer not to brief counsel but need to engage another law practice or mediator. Against that background, here are my thoughts on why lawyers (absolutely do not) make the worst clients...

1. Most practitioners who engage a lawyer for themselves or their clients are well aware that they need the help. They have generally thought deeply about the issues in the case and have only reached out because they sensibly recognise the need for external advice or representation. Unlike many other clients, they engage ready, willing and able to receive advice. In-house counsel are often spread thinly or have a commercial or corporate background with limited time or interest in litigation, so outsource the work while coordinating communication with the client company.
2. Most lawyers have insight. Many lawyers who instruct me do have a good idea of how to conduct their matter, but reach out because their idea has not worked or they are not sure that they have identified all of the possible pitfalls. This makes for an informed discussion and collaboration. Of course, some practise in completely unrelated areas, but still helpfully recognise issues once they are pointed out and are well-equipped to discuss them. Either way, it is a blessing not a curse to have an informed and engaged client.
3. If lawyers disagree with a proposed strategy, they'll say so! That enables different points of view to be considered and the best solution worked out. It also allows any stress in the lawyer-client relationship to be identified. Does disagreement mean I am being told how to do the job or that there is conflict? No. It is an opportunity to collaborate and work out the best solution. Legal strategies only improve through being challenged and refined. I would always prefer a client who speaks up to one who nods and smiles throughout the matter and at the end announces that they never agreed to or understood why you did things "that way".
4. Lawyers recognise value. Like any client, lawyers can consider legal services to be a grudge purchase. If engaging representation for themselves, it is often an unwelcome expense. If engaging me on behalf of a client, my fees are a disbursement affecting their cost estimate. Also just like for any other client, the cure for dissatisfaction with costs is to demonstrate value. On the whole, lawyers are very capable of recognising value in legal services and also understand that specialised, urgent or highly complex services may come with a higher price tag.
5. Lawyers usually accept outcomes or get serious about appealing. Lawyers, like any client, can be unhappy at the end of litigation. Losing hurts! Settling by agreement ends a dispute and on a good day, creates value for both parties. Winning can also come with a sense of frustration at the time and money spent while knowing one was 'right all along'. That said, lawyers will usually recall hearing and accepting the advice given in relation to prospects of success and the likely outcome of litigation. As long as that advice was correct and all reasonable steps were taken to achieve the predicted outcome or a better one, most practitioners will accept it if it happens. If, despite the best advice and representation a poor outcome is achieved, lawyers will decide early whether to accept it an move on, or to appeal. Unlike some lay clients who may talk a big game about appealing and then not want to follow through until several months after the time to appeal has elapsed, most lawyers will make a considered decision and stick to it.
6. Lawyers have high expectations and appreciate you meeting them. Lawyers will also take steps to ensure they hold you to that standard. To me, that is a very good thing. The best work can often be done when the stakes are high, you have full buy-in from the client and when you are entrusted with work by someone who recognises the difference between high quality work and mediocrity. That also makes it much easier to demonstrate value (see 4, above) as long as you deliver. At the end of the day, if you are not bringing your A-game when entrusted with someone's legal problem, you should not accept the brief or file. Every client's problem is the most important to them. Accepting that as the baseline and setting a high standard regardless, means a client who recognises this is 100% positive.

To the many private, in-house, government and aspiring legal practitioners I have represented, advised, collaborated with or mediated for; thank you for convincing me that lawyers are by no means the worst clients (and to be wary of advice given on the sidelines of CPD event)!