I was recently listening to Louis Black rant about mortgages being tough to read. He is right. When I refinanced my house I had to use a ruler to follow the fine print. Then I had to constantly refer back to figure out who they were talking about. It was infuriating. So Listening to Louis Black rant made me think.

Good lawyers win in court when they tell a compelling story to the jury and judge. Likewise, good lawyers win clients when they can listen to the client’s complaints and say it back to them in understandable legal language so the client knows a) that the lawyer understands; b) that the lawyer can explain in clear, understandable English, what the legal issues are, and c) what the lawyer is planning to do to help them win their case. For lack of a better name, I call this ability a Law Side Manner or LSM.

Some lawyers, the lucky ones, have a naturally high-level LSM. Most do not. The rest of us have to work at it. But developing LSM is a learning curve. Don’t expect to know it all at once. I will be posting more on what this manner looks like and how to use it to win more clients and stay on top of client relations.