How to establish trust with a client

1.  Keep your promises (and make only promises you can keep).

2.  Be honest with your client--even if that mean having to give them bad news.

3.  Use "we" a lot in your conversations to reduce the power imbalance inherent in the lawyer-client relationship.

4.  Ask questions of your client to make sure you are understanding each other and that you know key facts relevant to a problem.

5.  Stress to your client the importance of reaching joint decisions to go forward with your legal strategy.