Final Drafts of the Closed Memo

1. Final Drafts of the Closed Memo Questions

2. Final Drafts of the Closed Memo • Papers are due this Monday, October 7, in the box outside my door no later that 7:50 a.m. • You will be penalized for failure to follow any of the formatting requirements or for turning in your paper late. Review your syllabus for these requirements and penalties. • Be sure to attach (staple or clip) your first drafts. I will only grade final drafts if the first draft is attached.

3. Additional Comments • I will answer all emails I receive before 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. • Class Monday 8/7 is a research class at 3:00. You will receive an assigning memo that you will use to help you prepare for a client interview. • Class next Thursday will be a combined class at 11:00 a.m. (Room 273). You and your law firm (groups of 8) will prepare for and then interview your client who will be in class on that day.

4. The Client Interview

5. Preparing for the Interview • The best way to develop a client’s confidence in you is to research the law. • Having a full understanding of the dimensions of the law that applies to your client’s problem assists you in the preparation of the case by making it possible for you to ask the relevant questions and gather the necessary facts.

6. The Interview • Begin your interview of the client by meeting the client in your waiting room. • Make your client feel at ease by offering the client something to drink and by discussing some non-legal issue. • Start off with open-ended questions to get a sense of the legal issue but narrow to specific questions where needed to determine legally significant facts.

7. The Interview • Trust may be established by explaining to your new client the rules of professional conduct which protect their interests such as • The rule of client confidentiality • The rule that the client is the ultimate decision-maker when it comes to deciding whether to settle or go to trial.

8. Obtaining the Facts • In the closed memo, you were given a list of facts in a logical order. How might the process by which a lawyer obtains facts be more complex? • Clients may omit critical facts • Characterize facts in the best light for them • Misstate facts • Give facts in an idiosyncratic order

9. Obtaining the Facts • The best way to obtain the relevant facts is with effective interview skills. You should not only ask intelligent questions but listen carefully. • Another way of obtaining facts which may be more neutral or provide you with information which your client leaves out is to ask for any relevant documents, emails, tapes of other available physical evidence.

10. End the Interview • Give only a tentative legal assessment or none at all. • Tell the client what you are prepared to do. • Formalize the attorney-client relationship • Establish a goal or a follow-up meeting.