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[00:00:07] Scott Benton: Hey everyone, Scott Benton here. I am the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom Podcast. How are you? This is a place where we help you easily transition from a law school student into your professional career as an attorney, and where we make the practice of law fun and interesting. And today, we’re going to talk about why you want to find your client’s why.
[00:00:27] Scott Benton: Why you want to find your client’s why.
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[00:01:18] Scott Benton: Now as we start, let’s get a little more clear on what your client’s why is, so we know what We’re after because getting to the why of what someone is doing will help clarify the legal services that you’re delivering to that client. It provides a context box, let’s say, around the goals that your client is asking you to help them reach.
[00:01:39] Scott Benton: And it’s going to help you better analyze and advise your client on their situation.
[00:01:44] Scott Benton: The client’s why is the deep motivation behind their actions. Now, they don’t always necessarily know their why. A lot of times they do, but if they don’t know their why, they’re still going to give you quite a lot of information that you’re going to be able to put together that sort of more [00:02:00] big picture why.
[00:02:01] Scott Benton: as the reason for which they’ve hired you to represent them. It’s the real reason that they’re doing what they’re doing, that they’ve hired you to help them with. This is important to know. It’s critical because now you can see their case through their own lens, through their own eyes, and it’s going to help you focus the discussions that you’re having with your clients.
[00:02:23] Scott Benton: And, it’s even going to help inform your case strategies that you eventually propose to them. Getting to your client’s why is also going to save you a lot of time because you’re going to be less likely to feel stuck or as if you’re stumbling around trying to find a solution to their problem.
[00:02:39] Scott Benton: Now, you might assume it’s about money when really it’s about a promise that they made their mother 50 years ago. Could be something like that and not, and it might not have anything to do with money. So if you have that critical piece of information, then you know better on a day to day basis. It’s really how to serve them.
[00:02:59] Scott Benton: It’s going to [00:03:00] absolutely streamline the legal services you provide to your client on their case.
[00:03:05] Scott Benton: Now, it’s not always easy to get to the why of a case. And if you’re having trouble, there’s a type of mental exercise that you can think about that might be the tool that you need to help you understand that why. There are essentiallyy two ways to work on a case. And if you’re having trouble getting to your clients, why chances are you’re working from the outside in, meaning that you’re showing up for work, performing the legal services that are right in front of you, getting those done, billing your clients and just performing the next step.
[00:03:39] Scott Benton: But chances are also very good that you have not really built a solid relationship with your client. You haven’t got to know them as a person. Now, this doesn’t invalidate your worth and value as an attorney.
[00:03:52] Scott Benton: Far from it. You’re showing up and performing legal services, and that’s great. But there’s a whole other way that you can [00:04:00] approach this case that will get you to understand your client’s why. And that’s when your effectiveness as an attorney is going to blast off into the stratosphere. Absolutely take off at that point.
[00:04:12] Scott Benton: Remember, your job is not just to show up and bill for time and then look around for legal services to perform on your cases. That’s an example of working on a case from the outside in. That’s also, by the way, going to make your day feel very long and painful. You’ve got to instead find a way to work on the case, instead of from the outside in, from the inside out.
[00:04:39] Scott Benton: out because working on a case from the inside out is going to get you to the place that you’re trying to get to anyway, which is to your clients. Why are they attempting to achieve these legal goals? But what does exactly it mean when you say working on a case from the inside out? What does that even [00:05:00] mean?
[00:05:00] Scott Benton: And what do you do to work on a case from the inside out? If you don’t understand it, you’re never going to know how to do it. So the answer is simple, but it’s not necessarily easy to do, especially in the beginning. And it’s something that you’re going to have to practice over and over again.
[00:05:16] Scott Benton: You’re going to need to push yourself. to get extremely good at this one particular skill. And that’s the skill of building relationships. Because the minute you’re sitting down with your client, getting to know them as a person and you know the names of their family and you know the names of their pets and maybe even the first car they drove as a teenager, that’s the crossover moment when you’re digging three layers deep into the Y zone.
[00:05:43] Scott Benton: Now they’re also going to develop a sense of trust with you. And when they’re feeling finally comfortable enough, that’s when they just open up and they’re going to tell you their why. Or at least they’re going to give you enough information so you can really determine what that why is. And now [00:06:00] you have everything that you need to work effectively and efficiently on their case because it’s going to start to color and shade your entire approach from that moment forward.
[00:06:10] Scott Benton: It’s going to clarify your attorney notes that you jot down. It’s going to be Something that will better inform the creation of your to do list and it’s going to be a way for you to better prioritize the legal services that you deliver and that you bill for, or what we call our success cycle. So remember that in working with your clients, your goal as an attorney is not just to bill for time.
[00:06:33] Scott Benton: That’s like working on a case from the outside in.
[00:06:37] Scott Benton: Your goal is to provide excellent legal services at the lowest possible cost. And you’re able to do that by working on a case from the inside out. And you do that By building strong relationships with all of your clients and that you work on that skill set as much as possible The book that always gets mentioned that you might want to read pick it up and [00:07:00] take a look at it’s a great book It’s called how to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie That’s generally the book that’s transformative for just about everyone who reads it when it comes to the ideas of Relationship building and how to do that effectively So I highly recommend you pick up How to Win Friends and Influence People.
[00:07:20] Scott Benton: So I hope that’s been helpful. My name is Scott Benton. I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode. Now if this podcast is material that you like and you want to get notified whenever we post a new episode, you can go to our website. Our website is classroom2courtroom.
[00:07:36] Scott Benton: com. That’s classroom, the number two, courtroom. com. You can leave us your contact information. We’ll send you an email anytime we post a new episode. You can also stay on top of all of our new episodes by sharing, liking, and subscribing wherever you find this podcast. And until the next episode, we hope you’ll join us in making the world a better place, one client at a time
[00:07:57] Scott Benton: thank you so much.
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