THE AUTHORS:
Kabir Duggal, Senior International Arbitration Advisor, Arnold & Porter
Mihaela Apostol, Counsel, Tribunal Secretary and Arbitrator
Lawyering Plus Webinar: S1 EP1
Lawyering Plus is an initiative set up by Mihaela Apostol, Dr Ilka Beimel, and Svetlana Portman to help lawyers build soft skills. Lawyering Plus organises webinars and invites expert speakers to share their tips on a particular soft skill. Each episode ends with an interactive Q&A segment. The first webinar season focuses on communication skills and comprises the following episodes: Communicating with Clients (E1), Communicating with Colleagues, Written Advocacy, Oral Advocacy, Communicating with Fact and Expert Witnesses, and Non-verbal Communication – further details about the episodes are available here. If you want to be updated about the next webinars please subscribe here.
First Episode: Communicating with Clients
“Hard skills in law get you ‘inside’ a firm. Soft skills in law help you ‘succeed’ in a firm. So much time is spent developing hard skills that we forget soft skills are equally, if not more important than hard skills.”
Kabir Duggal
Season one debuted on 18 March 2024 with the topic “Communicating with Clients” having as expert speaker Kabir Duggal, PhD (Senior International Arbitration Advisor at Arnold and Porter, New York). Kabir presented his tips on effective client communication, emphasizing the importance of setting clear expectations, conducting due diligence, and showing respect for different cultures.
Golden Rule: Be Yourself
Kabir encouraged the participants to discover their unique communication style: the most effective way to present is to be yourself. Kabir shared five best practice tips for client communication for the audience to try and integrate when shaping their communication style.
Tip 1: Communicate Clearly and Set Expectations
Kabir emphasized the importance of setting clear expectations for clients when providing legal services. He advised not to over-promise or under-promise, but rather to provide the best analysis of the case or the costs required and explain the process clearly to the client avoiding legal jargon and unnecessary abbreviations. Kabir discussed the importance of setting boundaries and managing expectations in client relationships. He suggested that it is essential to establish clear parameters at the beginning of a relationship and to know when to step back if the situation becomes too emotionally charged.
Tip 2: Keep the Client Informed
Kabir also stressed the need to update clients regularly and to be empathetic and trustworthy. The client should not hear from you only when sending an invoice. Kabir advised establishing a point of contact for the client, who will periodically send updates on how the case is progressing and what legal developments could impact the client. Mihaela shared her tip for using Google Alerts to stay updated on legal developments relevant to the client’s cases. Kabir also mentioned informing the client when there is downtime, or when there are no changes to their case. Clients should know that there are no particular updates rather than being kept in the dark.
When faced with an inquiry from the client while being unable to respond immediately, acknowledge receipt and inform the client when it is likely to hear from you. Kabir advised that it is acceptable for lawyers to admit when they do not know the answer to a question and commit to finding out. In this regard, he stressed the importance of honesty and open communication with clients.
He also advised junior lawyers to gain experience by doing pro bono work and volunteering in their law firms for client communication.
Tip 3: Listen to the Client and Conduct Due Diligence
Kabir emphasized the importance of due diligence in fact-checking when clients provide information, and the need to maintain credibility in front of tribunals. He advised on handling situations where a client’s statement contradicts documentary evidence, recommending a gentle and empathetic approach to preserve the client relationship. Kabir also stressed the significance of credibility before a tribunal and the risks of losing it.
Kabir cautioned to verify the information provided by clients, especially when preparing statements of fact or witness statements. He shared an example where a blog post published by a journalist for April Fools’ Day was relied on by a counsel and ended up as a “fact” exhibit in an arbitration case.
Tip 4: Be Culturally Aware and Sensitive
Kabir mentioned the need to be aware of and respect different cultures, as people might not have the same understanding of concepts. Kabir discussed the difference between horizontal and vertical cultures. Vertical cultures value hierarchy, thus, it would be unacceptable to overstep someone’s authority by asking a junior person to do something that may not be authorised by their team.
He highlighted this need for cultural sensitivity and awareness when dealing with clients from different backgrounds by using a story about a client from a civil law jurisdiction who misunderstood what document production entails and took their lawyer’s advice “to take care of the documents” as an indication to destroy the documents, instead of preserving them.
Tip 5: Build Relationships
Kabir provided tips for building a rapport with clients by befriending them and being mindful of their interests. Kabir stressed the importance of making clients feel respected and valued and not simply perceived as a source of income. One example of acknowledging someone’s identity is to pay attention to key moments in their personal life and be mindful of their most important religious holidays or celebrations.
Key takeaways on client communication:
- Top three learnings: find your communication style, communicate clearly and periodically with your clients, listen and build personal rapport with the clients;
- Why this skill is important: good communication skills make you stand out and make the difference between a good lawyer and a great lawyer;
- How lawyers can train and enhance this skill: do pro bono work, offer to be the point of contact for the client, volunteer to send legal updates to the client;
- War story (things learned the hard way): clients in civil law jurisdictions might be unfamiliar with document production, and instructions from a lawyer to “take care of documents” might be understood as destroying those documents.
Next Episode
The next session, scheduled for 21 May 2024, focuses on communication inside law firms and managing conflicts.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Kabir Duggal focuses his practice on international investment arbitration, international commercial arbitration and public international law matters, serving as arbitrator, mediator, and counsel. He also frequently serves as an expert on international arbitration and public international law matters. He is also a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion issues and frequently writes and speaks on these issues. Kabir’s experience includes complex disputes under numerous bilateral/multilateral investment treaties and contracts with parties from all around the world. His experience flows from his triple training in international law, common law, and civil law traditions. He has served as an arbitrator in over 40 disputes involving parties from all over the world and across several different industries.
Mihaela Apostol is a civil and common law qualified lawyer with ten years of experience in international arbitration. She is an Avocat of the Bar of Bucharest, Romaniaand a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. Mihaela has an all-round experience in international arbitration having worked as counsel, tribunal secretary and arbitrator in investment and commercial arbitration cases covering construction, tech,intellectual property, energy and oil & gas. She is also a co-founder of ArbTech.
