This chapter explores the manner in which lawyers behaved towards their clients, building on the analysis of attitudes presented in the preceding chapter.
That chapter created a need to address whether the negative attitudes lawyers displayed were reflected in their actions. This directs attention towards how lawyers interacted with clients, focusing on features of what can be called ‘procedural justice' (Tyler, 1988: 128-31).
By this line, dealing with behaviour requires addressing something other than the substantive handling of a case: those factors responsible for the end result. Rather, it centralises the process in its own right. Clients are often chiefly concerned with how they are treated, not least that this is respectful, rendering it a significant thread to pursue in and of itself. The focus of this chapter, then, is on behaviour, with specific regard to the contact and access lawyers were willing to grant their clients. Contact and access are essential to foster rapport and enable communication and, as such, should be considered elemental for any functioning relationship.However, as with the preceding chapter, the ethnographic data has not created a coherent image of the issue. Rather, two competing pictures emerged. In the formal interviews, lawyers talked of treating clients with respect, which suggested they acted in a way that showed a positive feeling of esteem towards clients. This would be indicative of a healthy lawyer-client relationship. In the participant observation, though, it is shown that these claims were far removed from what was actually seen. Lawyers appeared to treat the clients in a disrespectful manner, rather engaging in rude conduct with a lack of courtesy pointing to a strained lawyer-client relationship.
In this chapter, I address both perspectives in turn before drawing them together. The first two sections refrain from a close engagement with either the lawyers or the literature and, instead, space is provided in which to present some of the major themes to emerge from the research. This involves the selection and dissemination of examples that reflect commonly held positions among the lawyers and regular occurrences in their work. In the third section, both elements are brought together into a more critical discussion of the impact this behaviour appeared to have on the lawyer-client relationship. Overall, I claim that the issue of behaviour demonstrates a strained lawyer-client relationship. I start by turning to the formal interviews.
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