How
to Make the Most of Your Empathy: A Checklist 1.
Give
your client your full attention. Do not multi-task
when meeting with
clients. Take
steps to avoid interruptions
and external distractions, such as noise. 2.
Listen
actively. Avoid
thinking about what you will say next
when your client is talking. Understanding
should
precede being understood. 3.
Pay
close attention to clients’ clues (body language,
tone of voice) so as to
appropriately respond to their concerns. 4.
Reflect
your understanding of your client’s emotional state. Acknowledge
how your client’s legal problem
makes him feel. 5.
Think
of your client as a person, not just as a source of
income, and be curious
about your client’s entire story. 6.
Think
of yourself as a coach as well as a provider of
legal services. Recognize that
part of your job is to move clients toward more
positive emotions. 7.
Avoid
legal jargon, lectures, and longwinded answers.
Pause between paragraphs to give clients time
to process your
explanations and their own emotions. 8.
Ask
clients open ended questions. Ask for
explanations and examples. Don’t just
ask leading questions. 9.
If
possible, meet clients in their environment rather
than in a sterile law
office. 10.
Roleplay and
engage in simulation scenarios
with colleagues to improve your empathetic response. 11.
Communicate
regularly with clients. Respond to
their
emotions and their expressed regrets. Ask them
frequently if you are accurately
perceiving their concerns and desires. 12.
Use
resources such as personality inventories to become
more aware of your own
strengths and weaknesses as a communicator. |