How to Conduct a First Client Consultation Properly
A practical guide for candidate attorneys and junior attorneys
The first client consultation is not an oral examination. The client is not there to hear how much law you can recite. Your job is to establish who the client is, what happened, what can be proved, what is urgent, and what the firm has and has not agreed to do.
For a candidate attorney or junior attorney, that discipline matters far more than sounding certain.
The Legal Practice Council Code of Conduct applies to candidate legal practitioners as well as admitted practitioners. It requires honesty, integrity, independence, confidentiality, competent and timely work, and candid advice about a client’s prospects. Candidate attorneys must also work within the supervision arrangements applicable to their practical vocational training.
A properly conducted consultation should produce three things: reliable instructions, a preliminary legal assessment and a clear plan. If any one of these is missing, the consultation is incomplete.
Prepare before the meeting
Preparation does not mean reading an uncontrolled bundle of documents without knowing what the client wants. It means obtaining enough information to conduct the meeting responsibly.
Start with the full names of the prospective client, the opposing parties and any related people or entities. Conduct the firm’s conflict check before receiving a detailed account or a large set of documents. Depending on the matter, the search may need to include companies, trusts, directors, shareholders, spouses, family members, insurers and previous clients.
Ask for a short description of the problem, the result sought and the most important documents. If the client sends hundreds of pages, clarify whether advance document review falls within the consultation fee and how much can reasonably be reviewed before the meeting. A scheduled consultation should not be treated as including several hours of unarranged reading and research.
Identify the likely field of law, the possible forum and any obvious time limits that require investigation. Read the summons, notice, order, contract, dismissal letter or other document that appears to create the immediate problem. Prepare questions, not conclusions.
Use the first five minutes properly
The beginning of the meeting often determines whether the rest of it is orderly.
Confirm who is seeking advice, whether that person acts personally or in a representative capacity, who has authority to instruct the firm and who will be responsible for the fees. A director is not automatically the client when the firm advises a company. A beneficiary cannot simply instruct on behalf of a trust. A spouse, parent, business partner or funder does not become the client merely because that person arranged or paid for the consultation.
If you are a candidate attorney, introduce yourself accurately and explain the supervising attorney’s role. Do not allow the client to assume that you are an admitted attorney. The current LPC position requires direct personal supervision throughout a candidate legal practitioner’s practical vocational training contract. Know which decisions you may make, which advice requires approval and which issues must be referred immediately.
Tell the client how much time is available and what the appointment is intended to cover. Explain that you will obtain instructions, identify the legal and practical issues and give a preliminary view where it is responsible to do so. Further work will depend on the firm accepting the mandate and the client complying with its engagement, fee and FICA requirements.
Deal with anyone else in the room. Ask the client whether the person may remain and record the answer. A third party’s presence can have consequences for confidentiality and legal professional privilege. If the position is uncertain, obtain guidance before giving assurances about privilege.
Let the client speak, then build the chronology
Most clients do not present facts in legal order. They tell the story according to what upset them most. Allow a short uninterrupted account so that you understand what the client considers important. Then return to the beginning and build the chronology.
Pin down exact dates, people, communications and documents. Ask:
What happened immediately before and after this?
Were you present, or did someone tell you about it?
How do you know that?
Where is it recorded?
Who else witnessed it?
What did you say or do in response?
What would the other party say happened?
Have you left out anything because you think it may harm your case?
There is a difference between testing instructions and cross-examining your own client. Questions should be direct, not hostile. Your task is to find weaknesses while there is still time to deal with them.
Keep facts, assumptions and conclusions separate. “My employer dismissed me because I complained” contains both a fact and an inference. The dismissal may be documented. The reason still needs evidence. “He stole the money” is a conclusion. You still need to establish who owned the money, who controlled it, what authority existed, what happened to it and what evidence supports the allegation.
Find the legal problem and the deadline
Clients commonly describe conduct as “fraud”, “harassment”, “defamation”, “breach of contract” or “unfair”. Those words may or may not describe a recognised cause of action.
Work through the matter in a fixed order. Identify the proper parties, their capacity and the forum with jurisdiction. Consider the right or duty said to have been breached, the available remedy, the evidence, the likely defence and whether the proposed course is practical and enforceable. The useful question is often not “Was this wrong?” but “What relief can the lawfully appointed decision-maker grant on the available facts?”
Then find the deadline. Ask specifically about documents served or received, court or tribunal dates, existing orders, the date of dismissal or breach, internal appeals, previous attorneys and any undertaking or extension allegedly agreed with the other side.
Where receipt matters, ask for the original email, envelope, return of service or electronic notification. Do not rely on “about two weeks ago”. Do not assure the client that there is still time based on memory. Record the date and its source, check the applicable law and rules, calculate the period carefully and have the calculation checked where necessary.
If there may be urgency, tell the supervising attorney at once. Urgent work should not wait until the consultation note is typed the following day.
Careful consultation work depends on a clear chronology and reliable notes. Photograph: Sora Shimazaki/Pexels.
Treat documents as evidence
A stack of paper is not evidence merely because the client has brought it to the office.
For each important document, establish who created it, when it was created or received, whether it is complete, whether it has been altered or annotated, where the original is and what fact it proves.
Ask for complete email chains and message exports where possible, not selected screenshots stripped of dates and context. Preserve original audio, photographs, video and electronic files. If material may have been obtained unlawfully or belongs to another party, stop and obtain advice before accessing, copying or using it.
You do not need to read every page during the meeting. Identify the key documents, record what was received and list what still requires review. Never give an opinion based on a document you have not actually read.
Give advice, not guesswork
There is nothing professional about immediate certainty on incomplete facts.
Tell the client what appears to be established, what remains disputed, which assumptions affect the preliminary view and what further documents or research are required. Explain the available options together with the material risks, costs and practical consequences of each.
Avoid guarantees. “You have a strong case” means little unless you can explain the legal basis, evidential support, likely defence and remaining risks. The same applies to “you have no case”. Both conclusions require proper work.
If you do not know, say that the point must be checked. A responsible answer is: “I do not want to give you an unreliable answer. I need to check the applicable rule and confirm the position with the supervising attorney.” Record that undertaking and follow through.
The client’s desired result matters, but it cannot determine the legal opinion. The Code of Conduct requires an honest view of prospects. It does not permit a practitioner to tell a client what the client wants to hear.
Be clear about the mandate, fees and compliance
The consultation may itself be a limited instruction. It does not automatically mean that the firm has accepted responsibility for the whole matter.
If the firm is willing to act, the written engagement should identify the work included and excluded, the responsible practitioner, the rate or fee basis, VAT, deposits, likely disbursements and the possible use of counsel, correspondents, experts or sheriffs. Clients should understand that reading, research, drafting, correspondence, calls, preparation and appearances may all be chargeable. A favourable costs order will also not ordinarily repay everything spent on the client’s own attorneys.
Do not invent an estimate to fill an uncomfortable silence. Do not promise a discount, fixed fee or payment arrangement unless you have authority. If the scope is not yet clear, explain what must be assessed before a reliable estimate can be given.
FICA compliance is not satisfied by mechanically collecting an identity document and proof of address. The firm must apply its Risk Management and Compliance Programme and complete the customer due diligence required for the particular client and instruction. Depending on the circumstances, this may include identity, representative authority, beneficial ownership, the nature and purpose of the relationship, screening, and information about source of funds or wealth where required.
Candidate attorneys should refer unusual ownership structures, third-party payments, unexplained funds, sanctions concerns and suspicious conduct through the firm’s approved process. Client information must also be kept on approved systems. Identity documents, financial records and intimate client material do not belong in personal email accounts, on private devices or unattended in shared rooms.
Close the consultation deliberately
Do not end with “we will be in touch”. Summarise the material facts, the client’s objective, any urgent dates, the documents received and required, the options discussed, the advice and warnings given, and the next steps. State who must do what and by when. Ask the client to correct anything you have misunderstood.
Make clear whether the firm has accepted further instructions. If it has not, say so plainly and confirm it in writing, particularly where a deadline may be running. Do not promise a letter “today” unless there is capacity, authority and enough information to prepare it properly.
The consultation is not finished until there is a proper file note. Record:
the date, time, duration and method of the consultation;
everyone present and the capacity in which each attended;
the client’s identity and the person giving instructions;
the material chronology and instructions;
documents received, inspected or promised;
advice given, including risks and adverse advice;
dates requiring verification or diarising;
undertakings given by the client or the firm;
the mandate, fee and FICA position;
points requiring research or supervision; and
the next step, responsible person and due date.
Make the note while the consultation is fresh. Confirm material advice and next steps in writing after supervisory review where required. Every identified deadline must be entered into the firm’s diary system with advance reminders and a named responsible person. A date written only in a notebook is not adequate risk management.
Ten questions to answer before you close the file
Who is the client?
What happened, and in what order?
What can presently be proved?
What is the legal issue?
What result does the client want?
What is urgent?
What advice was given, and on which assumptions?
What has the firm agreed to do?
What will it cost, or how will the cost be determined?
What happens next, by whom and by when?
If you cannot answer those questions, the matter is not yet under control.
Final word
A good first consultation does not require a junior practitioner to know every answer. It requires careful listening, disciplined questioning, sound judgment and an accurate record.
The client should leave knowing what is established, what remains uncertain, what the realistic options are, what further work may cost and what happens next. The firm should be left with reliable instructions, a documented scope and no hidden deadline.
That is professional work.
This article is intended for legal education and reflects the position as at 7 September 2026. Candidate attorneys and junior attorneys must also follow current legislation, court and tribunal rules, LPC directives, their firm’s policies and the instructions of their supervising practitioner.
Official sources and further reading
Photographs by Christina Morillo and Sora Shimazaki, via Pexels.
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