Difficult Conversations

One of my least favorite parts of law practice is giving bad news to a client. Granted, most of what I have to deliver is along the lines of “we lost the motion and will need to turn over the unredacted documents”—news that may be upsetting or will result in more cost, sure, but nothing earth shattering.

Sometimes, however, I do need to share life-changing news; in a legal ethics context, it’s usually news about a referee recommendation for a suspension or worse. Lawyers, like many professionals, build whole identities around their career and news of a three-year suspension is not going to be greeted with, “fine, I’ll get a different job then.”

I wrote about the ethics of delivering bad news for the Wisconsin Law Journal a couple of years ago. My advice hasn’t changed, but at the same time, it hasn’t gotten any easier.

Above the Law has a good piece on how to tell an 18-year-old he’s going to prison for life. It’s a difficult read, and reminiscent of this brutal New York Times piece from a few years back.