ARE YOU SCREENING CLIENTS, OR ARE THEY SCREENING YOU?

Laura W. Morgan, Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
Executive Editor, Divorce Litigation

A prominent female Detroit divorce lawyer tells the story of how a man called her office most anxious to speak with her. The man told the lawyer’s secretary that his wife was about to file for divorce, and he wanted the best divorce attorney in Detroit. Somewhat flattered, the lawyer took the call. Before the lawyer could even introduce herself, the man proceeded in a breathless rush to tell the lawyer the circumstances of the breakdown of the marriage, including adultery. When the lawyer was finally able to interject to ask the man to come to her office, the man replied, "That won’t be necessary. I just wanted to make sure my wife couldn’t hire you, and now I have." A well known attorney in Toronto tells the virtually the same story.

All attorneys know by now that it is necessary to have screening measures in place to make sure he or she does not represent clients with conflicting interests. These measures are aimed at screening out clients who walk into a law office who have interests that conflict with existing clients of the same office. See ABA Formal Opinion 90-358 (1990); Kansas Bar Association Ethics Advisory Committee Opinion 91-4 (1991). These same screening measures can be used to prevent the above scenario, i.e., prevent the client from screening out the attorney.

First, initial contact with the client should always be limited to obtaining general information from the client, such as name, address, and a general identification of the problem. The attorney should not allow the potential client to disclose any confidential information that he or she could later claim is being used to his or her detriment.

Second, the lawyer should not give the client any information that could be considered "legal advise." The best approach is to tell the potential client something like, "I am Terry Attorney. I am a divorce lawyer with 25 years experience. I went to Harvard Law School, where I was a member of Order of the Coif. I am currently Chair of the state’s family law bar. I am listed in Best Lawyers in America, and I am a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. If you like my qualifications and would like to hire me, you may do so and these are my terms."

In this manner, because no confidential information was received by the attorney and no legal advise was given, the potential client cannot make the claim that the attorney is conflicted out. Of course, a determined future ex-spouse can nonetheless hire an attorney, give confidential information, and then fire that attorney after one meeting. This cannot be avoided. But proper screening methods can at least avoid being conflicted out by virtue of a single phone call.

Laura W. Morgan is a Senior Attorney in Family Law at the National Legal Research Group, in Charlottesville, Virginia, a firm that writes memoranda and briefs for attorneys nationwide. Ms. Morgan is the author of "Child Support Guidelines: Interpretation and Application," and is currently Chair of the Child Support Committee of the American Bar Association Family Law Section. She can be reached at: goddess@supportguidelines.com, or phone 1-800-727-6574 or 1-804-977-5690

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