Overview

The emphasis throughout Doug Cochran’s Interviewing Skills for Legal Professionals is on interviewing skill acquisition for law clerks and other paralegals. Students gain insight into the crucial components of the interviewing process that will enable them to master the art of legal interviewing. The interviewing process is explained within the context of the real-world legal environment. Students come to appreciate how the techniques of effective interviewing create the means by which a law firm can obtain the raw data necessary to provide excellent representation for clients.

Students learn to implement client-centred interviewing practices. The exercise of such competencies not only increases client satisfaction with the legal process, but also fosters better results by involving clients in resolving their own legal concerns. Many “problem” interview situations are explored, thus assisting students in dealing with difficult situations and avoiding fatal pitfalls. As a result, students are exposed to “problem” scenarios and types of clients in a manner that will assist them in dealing with these challenges when they encounter them for the first time in a law firm.

TopContent Summary

Introduction: Client-Centred Interviewing

• Chapter 1: What's Behind Good Client Interviewing?
• Chapter 2: Interview Preparation
• Chapter 3: Structure of the Interview
• Chapter 4: Environment of the Interview
• Chapter 5: The Interview
• Chapter 6: Questioning Techniques
• Chapter 7: Interviewing Non-Client Witnesses
• Chapter 8: Client Advice, Ethical Concerns, and Troublesome Clients
• Chapter 9: The Art of Criticism

Afterword
Appendix A: Interview Stages and Tasks
Appendix B: Obstacles to Communication
Appendix C: Avoidance Responses
Appendix D: Interview Checklist
Appendix E: Inventory of Interviewing Inhibitors
Appendix F: Typical Question Starters
Appendix G: Critic's Guide to Interview Feedback
Appendix H: Impact of Constructive Criticism
Appendix I: Interviewing Crossword Puzzle