Your initial contact with a lawyer lays the foundations for your professional relationship and allows an understanding of each other’s expectations to be established.

So it is advisable to arrange an appointment with your solicitor or legal representative face to face, at least for the first meeting.

Be organised

Solicitors generally charge by the hour and legal fees are costly, so be on time for your appointment, be organized, be prepared with a summary of your situation and take along all relevant documents that relate to the issue. After this initial meeting, it may be more convenient to deal with your solicitor via email or phone when possible. However, your solicitor will still charge you for the time taken to answer your phone call or read your email, so do not suppose that you will not be charged if you use email to communicate with him.

Email protocol

It is very important that your communication by email is polite. When used properly, email can be an efficient tool for recording and keeping a record of your thoughts and issues in point form. However, the tone of email communication can be misinterpreted due to incorrect punctuation or emphasis. Multiple emails can confuse and waste time and money. Organise your thoughts before you start typing. Wherever possible send only one email with all relevant information. Remember also that emails can be used as legal documents.

This information is to be used as a guide only and different solicitors have their own preferred ways of communicating. Discuss with your solicitor his recommendations so that you may achieve the best result for your legal issue.