Trial Magazine

As caring advocates, we know that the people who often experience the worst injustices are marginalized and vulnerable—children, victims of trauma or abuse, the homeless, and those with mental impairments or brain injuries. Good communication and understanding each client’s unique situation are key to a successful relationship.

Frequent and structured contact earns vulnerable clients' trust.

Meet in person and talk often. You can assess potential limitations far better face to face—for example, whether clients can handle the stress of litigation and how much they can assist with their case. Manage their expectations about potential recovery and risks. Calendar regular meetings or phone calls, and remind them about confidentiality, social media use, and other issues of concern. Frequent and structured contact earns vulnerable clients’ trust.

Appoint a guardian. If the client is a child or is mentally incompetent, appoint a qualified guardian. Sometimes a parent or spouse is the wrong choice. For example, a traumatic injury can be emotionally overwhelming to close family members, who may be ill-suited to act in the client’s best interests.

Get written consent. Follow up important in-person conversations with a letter summarizing the discussion and ending with a statement that the client understands the contents and agrees to the actions described. Have clients sign and date the letter, and give them a copy. Clients with certain psychological impairments may later deny consenting to actions, such as settlement authority. Signed letters remind your clients of their commitments—and protect you from a potential ethics complaint.

Keep track of your client. Stress and other personal crises can drive vulnerable people to disappear. Arrange for a spouse or close family member to help keep the client on track. If no safety net is available, and the client does not respond to phone calls, send letters via both certified and regular mail—fearful clients often won’t sign for documents. Document your specific attempts to reach the client and clearly explain the consequences if the client does not contact you by a specific deadline. If that fails, hire a private investigator to locate the client. Courts may require evidence of these good-faith measures to grant continuances or time extensions.

With patience, commitment, and a solid communication strategy, you can better represent vulnerable clients.

Leslie O’Leary is an attorney at Johnson, Johnson, Lucas & Middleton in Eugene, Ore. She can be reached at loleary@justicelawyers.com.