The client-lawyer relationship - can we fix it?

This blog really continues a debate that was started by @legalbizzle and @legalbrat a few weeks ago.  There are a number of postings relevant which you might consider pre-course material including:

• What lawyers can learn from call centres by Legal Bizzle
• It's not about the biscuits by Legal Bizzle
• It's client care but not as we know it by Legal Brat

In truth this is not a new debate, in fact it is not really a debate.  It is obvious that relationships can only exist between individuals and not between corporate entities - a relationship is not a contractual bond it is an emotional bond and entities do not have emotions.  A CEO or Group Counsel might say "We use BLP for our Real Estate work" and it might be true that Berwin Leighton Paisner have been appointed but the reason for that appointment will be due to that same CEO/Group Counsel having a relationship with individuals at BLP.  As a firm we cannot take the relationship for granted and as with any relationship it must be constantly worked on.

I have often pondered why it is that people can be in a relationship for years and even living together but then get divorced relatively quickly after getting married.  I believe the answer is obvious - prior to getting married both parties worked at the relationship to maintain it.  Both realised that in order for the relationship to be sustained it required effort and sacrifice on both sides.  However, once the couple are married they fall into the trap of thinking that the marriage certificate is proof of their commitment and no more effort to maintain the relationship is required.  However, the opposite is clearly true, the marriage is simply a new phase to the relationship and the parties must still go to great effort and make the same sacrifices if the marriage and thus the relationship is to survive.

Leaving the sphere of marriage counselling and returning to client-lawyer relationships, it is clear both from the articles above and personal experience that the same is true.  During the courting phase lawyers will spend a large amount of time talking to and supposedly getting to know the prospective client.  Then once the appointment has been made many lawyers will simply stop with the "idle chatter" and only talk business.  It should hardly be surprising that the client, in such circumstances, wakes up in the morning and views his lawyer in a negative way.  His lawyer is not interested in helping him achieve his goals.  His lawyer's sole motivation is acquiring instructions for the purpose of making money.

So if it is so obvious why are so many lawyers bad at it?

The answer to this is not so clear but I believe it may lie partially in the traits of the average lawyer and partially in the billable hours tradition that has built up.

In terms of the billable hours tradition I think that this is something which has been mentioned before.  From a young age it is impressed upon the junior lawyer the importance of the billable hour.  That is how firms have traditionally made money.  Your associate's salary is a fixed annual sum but the more billable hours you can get out of them the more profit you will make.  The problem is that in the associates' minds this translates into anything which is not billable as being evil.  Accordingly, said associates do not want to "waste" their time in "idle chit chat" with clients when they could be billing another client.  By the time the associate has reached a more senior level the habit is embedded and breaking that habit is significantly harder and requires effort.

Therefore, this part of the problem is systematic and within the power of the profession to address by better recognition of the non-billable hour at the most junior level.  Certainly at BLP we actively encourage our junior associates to engage on a social basis with clients.  But we have not solved the problem because, at the end of the day, there continues to be the pressure to record time, leaving associates making bad cost-benefit analysis decisions and probably not investing sufficient time in building the relationship.  But it is a start which will hopefully better equip our associates as they move towards partnership or into in-house roles.

The traits issue is less tangible but I want to throw it out there as a thought for discussion.  I just wonder whether law attracts a certain type of individual who is not as comfortable with developing personal relationships with multiple contacts.  As with everything there are exceptions to the rule and these exceptions are found in the rainmakers.  Whilst some of what these rainmakers are good at can be learnt, their success is due in a large part to their personal character traits.  Whilst we might be able to provide training and alter some bad habits fundamentally it is unlikely we can ever change (nor do I believe we would want to) a person's character to such a large degree.  If that is correct then there may be an argument that whilst small improvements will be made in client-lawyer relationships, fundamentally if you expect all the lawyers to suddenly become the best relationship people around it just ain't going to happen. 

What category do I fall into?  I suggest you ask my clients.