As with attitudes, the issue of behaviour has entailed the presentation of two competing narratives.
While addressing the management of contact and access, lawyers in Radical and Sausage Factory firms alike used the formal interviews to claim their acting with respect towards clients.
The participant observation, though, suggested quite the opposite, as they were shown acting disrespectfully. In this discussion, both positions are drawn together into a more engaged analysis, raising the question: how were clients actually treated?I begin by reflecting on the gap between what was said in the interview and shown in the participant observation. This is presented as the difference between lawyers claiming to react to external pressures and appearing to act of their own accord. Whatever the cause, it is thereafter suggested that the effect was the same: lawyers were engaged in a volume business. As a result, I claim that clients were dehumanised. Looking at contact and access, then, ultimately revealed lawyers treating clients with disrespect bordering on contempt. I suggest that this undermines the health of the lawyer-client relationship.