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Curb their enthusiasm: many people know little about the civil justice system, and what they do know often comes from television dramas or tort 'reform' propaganda. Keeping clients grounded in reality can be your hardest task.

Article Excerpt
Many articles and seminars discussing jurors' attitudes regarding lawsuits, plaintiffs, and lawyers typically deal with their prejudices and beliefs resulting from the influence of the media and other factors. (1) The conventional wisdom is that jurors today are far less plaintiff-friendly than those in the past and that this is a result of changes in public attitudes.

But this conventional wisdom generally ignores the impact of the same widely held public attitudes on how our potential clients perceive the civil justice system. Inasmuch as our clients and potential clients, as members of the public, are likely subjected to the same anti-civil-justice propaganda that today's jury members encounter, it is likely that many people who seek our services share the same underlying beliefs about civil justice as many of today's jurors.

As tort "reform" propaganda has promoted the myth that lawsuits are an elaborate game where the winning plaintiff takes all, it stands to reason--and it has been this author's observation--that many clients apparently share the same common misunderstandings about the civil justice system. Some seem to think that a tort claimant, regardless of the in jury's severity, is likely to receive an excessive amount of money for his or her case. (2) In my experience, many of these clients seem to think that when they are injured, "now it is my turn."

When clients harbor such misconceptions, this can raise false expectations about the case. We plaintiff attorneys therefore need to adequately educate our clients so that their expectations are in line with reality, ff we do this, then reasonable resolution of the case and client satisfaction can be achieved.

Prejudice. From the first meeting, potential clients can reveal their prejudices and unrealistic expectations. Addressing each quickly and effectively will save everyone headaches and disappointments. Offhand remarks by clients often hold the key to revealing potentially damaging prejudices. Take these: "I want you to know that I have never done anything like this before. I just want to be treated fairly. I am not looking for millions" or "I am not the suing kind."

Such remarks present a bit of a quandary. The client's insistence that he or she is not "the suing kind" suggests not just an aversion toward litigation, but also the belief that others--the suing kind, presumably--are responsible for something less than savory in the civil justice system. Generally, clients who express such sentiments also want a lawyer who projects optimism and will convince them that their cases can be won all the while maintaining clients' distance from "the suing kind."

However, clients like these first need lawyers who will educate them about the limits of the civil justice system--and specifically what will happen in their cases. Striking the right balance between being optimistic, which...