Psychologists As Associates?

I hung up on a client yesterday, and in the dead of night I wondered whether this will yield a grievance. Sure, it was uncivil of me to do so. But civility is a two-way street. What rule requires a lawyer to answer the same question five times? And what training have we as lawyers to deal with folks who only hear what suits them?

Every litigation firm has a handful of clients whose needs overwhelm paralegals and lawyers alike. New ethics rules on client communications create a quandary for litigators. Increasingly, we are called upon to serve as social workers. The role of counselor now encompasses more than mere advice on legal options. We are wedded now to the sorrows of strangers who need help we do not know how to give.

In personal injury firms, nurses are often hired to help sort through the paper work and to manage files. I am wondering whether any firms have experimented with hiring a psychologist to handle difficult clients.

I am sorely tempted to hire a psychologist. Most often clients find themselves, or have placed themselves, at crisis-laden crossroads. The legal signposts are clear enough. But accepting the reality of what the law provides is often traumatic. Who better than a psychologist to understand and cope with a client in crisis?

Anyone out there aware of any case law on this topic? I am not proposing a joint venture in which clients come to a law firm for analysis or psychotherapy. I am simply looking for a way to meet client needs while actually engaging in the practice of law. Increasingly, my firm is turning away cases in which clients are simply too needy, most often in employment cases. I wonder where those clients go to address their woes.

Comments

[Charles Thomas]

If you do criminal defense, then you have at some point hung up on a client (or more likely, his girlfriend). Working this side of the street, it is not uncommon for clients to hear only what they want to.

[Norm Pattis]

Charles:

It still bugs me, but thanks for the chuckle about girlfriends. How true!

Norm

[Steven G. Erickson]

Those that need your services, might not have any hope except for what you can do for them.

That kind of pressure and those that can't cope is hard for both sides.

I feel bad for one of your flock, with the initials JB. He like you has the guts to actually serve clients. So now he gets the BBQ.

Norm, I have sat in your office in New Haven and found you to be honest and truly caring. So if you hung up on someone, I believe they had it coming.