Abstract
The client interview is an integral part of a lawyer’s work. Despite this, there is little research focused on the client interview and how it might influence the economy of the legal strategies and processes that follow. This study examined students’ perceptions of perspective-taking, trust, self-disclosure and understanding in a client interview where the students took the roles of either a lawyer or client in a dispute resolution context. The results revealed that the client’s perception of their lawyer’s perspective-taking increased their trust in the lawyer, which increased their self-disclosure, which subsequently helped the clients to gain a better understanding of their situation. The results illustrate the importance of the key relational aspects during consultation and accords with similar findings in the procedural justice and mentalising literature. The findings could have powerful implications for rethinking the purpose and aims of the lawyer-client interview and helping lawyers to reshape the outcomes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 659-668 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Psychiatry, Psychology and Law |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
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Rethinking the Lawyer-Client Interview : Taking a Relational Approach. / Howieson, Jill; Rogers, Shane L.
In: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, Vol. 26, No. 4, 2019, p. 659-668.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Rethinking the Lawyer-Client Interview
T2 - Taking a Relational Approach
AU - Howieson, Jill
AU - Rogers, Shane L.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - The client interview is an integral part of a lawyer’s work. Despite this, there is little research focused on the client interview and how it might influence the economy of the legal strategies and processes that follow. This study examined students’ perceptions of perspective-taking, trust, self-disclosure and understanding in a client interview where the students took the roles of either a lawyer or client in a dispute resolution context. The results revealed that the client’s perception of their lawyer’s perspective-taking increased their trust in the lawyer, which increased their self-disclosure, which subsequently helped the clients to gain a better understanding of their situation. The results illustrate the importance of the key relational aspects during consultation and accords with similar findings in the procedural justice and mentalising literature. The findings could have powerful implications for rethinking the purpose and aims of the lawyer-client interview and helping lawyers to reshape the outcomes.
AB - The client interview is an integral part of a lawyer’s work. Despite this, there is little research focused on the client interview and how it might influence the economy of the legal strategies and processes that follow. This study examined students’ perceptions of perspective-taking, trust, self-disclosure and understanding in a client interview where the students took the roles of either a lawyer or client in a dispute resolution context. The results revealed that the client’s perception of their lawyer’s perspective-taking increased their trust in the lawyer, which increased their self-disclosure, which subsequently helped the clients to gain a better understanding of their situation. The results illustrate the importance of the key relational aspects during consultation and accords with similar findings in the procedural justice and mentalising literature. The findings could have powerful implications for rethinking the purpose and aims of the lawyer-client interview and helping lawyers to reshape the outcomes.
KW - lawyer-client interview
KW - mentalising
KW - perspective-taking
KW - procedural justice
KW - relational
KW - self-disclosure
KW - trust
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068916047&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13218719.2019.1618749
DO - 10.1080/13218719.2019.1618749
M3 - Article
VL - 26
SP - 659
EP - 668
JO - Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
JF - Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
SN - 1321-8719
IS - 4
ER -