1329

INTRODUCTION
FORREST S. MOSTENI

By devoting an entire issue to legal interviewing and counseling

with an emphasis on the American Bar Association (ABA) Client
Counseling Competition, the Creighton Law Review and the Creigh-
ton Client Counseling Board are making a significant contribution to
legal education and the delivery of legal services. This issue is proba-
bly the first in law review history to concentrate solely on the client
counseling process as taught in law schools and as practiced in the
privacy of law offices throughout this country.
Nearly two decades have passed since Professor Louis M. Brown
conceived, developed, administered, and funded the Client Counsel-
ing Competition.' The Competition started with a dual meet between
the University of Southern California and the University of San
Francisco. Today, over one hundred ABA-approved schools partici-
2 3
pate. In addition, law schools throughout Canada compete in the
ABA Competition, and Great Britain began its own competition in
4
1984.
Over fifty percent of the law schools in the United States now
offer courses in client interviewing and counseling. These courses
are often taught in law office settings5 with modern video tape tech-

t Chairperson, American Bar Association Law Student Division Client Counsel-

ing Committee (1982-1984) and member of the Client Counseling Committee (1979-
1984). Mr. Mosten is a family lawyer-mediator in Los Angeles, California.
1. For a clear and concise history of the Competition, see the student article by
Debra Zorn in this issue.
2. See F. MOSTEN, CLIENT COUNSELING COMPETITION INTRA-SCHOOL COMPETI-
TION GUIDE (1978) (distributed by the ABA Law Student Division).
3. Canadian law schools are integrated into the regions created by the ABA Law
Student Division. The first Canadian Regional winner was the University of Calgary
(Professor David Cruickshank) in 1981. In 1985, the University of Alberta (Professor
David Ziff) was the first Canadian school to reach the final round of the Competition.
Since 1982, a Canadian representative has served on the Client Counseling Committee
to facilitate policy and problem writing considerations. To date, French Canadian
schools have not participated, and the problems of a multi-lingual competition require
ongoing exploration.
4. In 1985, eighteen teams competed in the British Competition held at both the
Polytechnic of the Southbank and the University of Notre Dame Study Center in
London. Since forming its competition .in 1985 under the leadership of Geoffrey
Bindman, Esquire, a distinguished London solicitor, Professor Avrom Sherr of the
University of Warwick, and Professor James Driscoll of Polytechnic of the South
Bank, the winning British teams have given a counseling exhibition at the ABA Na-
tional Finals. Discussions are ongoing to create an International Competition among
the National winners from the United States, Canada, Britain, and other countries to
be determined in the future.
5. After observing students struggle to develop client rapport in the sterile set-
1330 CREIGHTON LAW REVIEW [Vol. 18

niques. Professionals in other disciplines (psychology, social work,

clergy) often assist in student instruction. With the recent trend of
budget cuts for direct client service clinical programs and the in-
creased recognition by faculty and students of the need for law office
skills training, simulation in interviewing and counseling courses
seems to be the growing trend in law school skills training.
Given the Client Counseling Competition's major impact on the
legal profession, it is only fitting that this Special Issue on Client In-
terviewing and Counseling includes an article by Professor Louis M.
Brown: The Trouble with Law School Education: A Consultation as
a Microcosm. Professor Brown takes the reader into the lawyer-cli-
ent consultation by vividly reporting how students in three successive
consultations interviewed and counseled a client during an actual
round of the Client Counseling Competition.
Professor Brown uses the students' performances to ask: What's
the trouble with this series of consultations and with legal education
and law practice generally?
"The trouble is that the mind set of the students is on litigation
and litigation only. There was not in their thinking process negotia-
tion, settlement, compromise, collaboration, or deal making."
In this article, Professor Brown offers his carefully long-devel-
oped prescription for client-centered lawyering as manifested in the
consultation process, in the resolution of disputes, in the preventive
planning of specific client concerns, and in the asymptomatic check
6
up of a client's legal health.
For Professor Brown, "consultation" means more than a client
meeting to discuss the "case." Professor Brown suggests that fact
gathering is often viewed as the gathering of past facts. He urges
lawyers to create "new facts and alternate solutions to change the
possibilities of solving the client's problem."
Once again, Professor Brown has advanced the state of our
thinking in respect to the legal consultation. A consultation also in-

tings of traditional bull-pen law school classrooms, Professor Louis Brown invented
the Law Office Classroom. See Brown The Law Office-A Preventive Law Laboratory,
104 U. PA. L. REV. 940 (1956); Brown, Bring the Law Office to the Classroom, 36 S.
CAL. L. REV. 497 (1963); Brown, Lawyers---The Law Office Classroom Needs You, 8
BEVERLY HILLS B.J., Mar.-Apr., 1974, at 37.
Professor Brown has encouraged and/or funded law office classrooms at the many
law schools including: University of Notre Dame, University of Toledo, University of
Oregon, Antioch University, Harvard University, University of San Diego, University
of Iowa, Villanova University, University of Nebraska, McGeorge University, Univer-
sity of Virginia, University of Maryland, and University of Baltimore.
6. Since his first book on Preventive Law was published in 1950, Professor
Brown has written 7 books and over 200 articles developing his prescription. His biog-
raphy alone (through 1984) covers 48 pages.
1985] INTRODUCTION

cludes the exploration of new negotiation theory, 7 alternative ap-

proaches to litigation (perhaps unrelated to the "case"), and the
planning for the client's future. All of these approaches are geared
to finding an appropriate solution to the client's current and future
problems.

While Professor Brown has been the beacon in law office law
generally, Professor David Binder and Dr. Susan Price have helped
pioneer the study and teaching of the interviewing and counseling
process itself with their book Legal Interviewing and Counseling A
Client-CenteredApproach (West Publishing Co. 1977).
The insightful review of the Binder/Price book by Professor
Alan H. Frank and Dean Janet Boettcher Krause of the University
of Nebraska is divided into three parts: (1) a concise summary of the
book; (2) criticism of the book's deficiencies; and (3) an application of
the Binder/Price legal interviewing-counseling model to teaching
that process to law students.
The chapter by chapter analysis of the book is an excellent intro-
duction to the model. Having used Binder/Price in law school and
professional training since 1975 when it was still in manuscript form,
this writer found that the Frank-Krause summary offers a refreshing
look at the totality of the model that is helpful to teacher and stu-
dent alike.
The reviewers' main criticism of the Binder/Price book echoes
the message of Professor Brown: the book overstresses litigation.
Frank and Krause find the book's preoccupation with litigation
"somewhat ironic in view of the fact that in good measure the same
impetus that gave rise to increased emphasis on teaching counseling
skills to law students also generated heightened interest in instruc-
tion in non-adversarial planning skills."
The reviewers forgive the authors' focus on litigation by conclud-
ing that the Binder/Price model is equally applicable to decision
making in the planning context. Frank and Krause demonstrate
their belief and adoption of the Binder/Price model by sharing their
pedagogical experiences in utilizing the book and teaching manual in
their courses at the University of Nebraska. Frank and Krause de-
scribe their struggles and successes of adapting the model of the
classroom:
"Whatever its [the book's] shortcomings as a treatise on client

7. See R. FISHER & W. URY, GEITrING TO YES (1981); Meadow, Toward Another
View of Legal Negotiation: The Structure of Problem Solving, 31 UCLA L. REV. 754
(1984).
1332 CREIGHTON LAW REVIEW [Vol. 18

counseling, and they are few, the volume's real measure is how well
it achieves its objectives in the classroom. It does so exceedingly
well."
The reviewers cover such teaching concerns as the scope of a
legal interviewing counseling course, order of topic presentation, time
constraints, and the motivation and resistance of students.
By defying customary law review style with their disclosure of
how the book under review has affected the teaching of real students,
the reviewers have elevated an excellent book review into a work of
pedagogical insight.

A review of the Competition's Standards for Judging8 reveals a

recognition of the duty of a lawyer to understand, counsel, and solve
the client's problems-not just the client's lpgal problems or the case.
Often, a client is well served by not "making a case out of it." The
standards, in part, demand that legal counselors establish effective
relationships, learn how clients view their problems, learn the cli-
ent's goals and expectations, and assist clients in their understanding
to make informed choices among alternatives. 9 Knowledge of the
"law" is important but does not insure effective legal counseling. 10
The Standards of Judging are a model for competent lawyer-
ing."1 Student counselors are aware that they will be evaluated by
non-lawyers for whom excellent statutory and case analysis must be
accompanied by skill in the interaction with the client. One goal of
the Competition is for these Judging Standards to become internal-
ized by students throughout their legal careers. This interdiscipli-
nary orientation might include establishing a non-lawyer referral
network, reading non-lawyer professional journals, or direct interdis-
ciplinary collaboration, 12 such as co-mediation, sharing office space,
or forming interdisciplinary offices and training programs.' 3 Many

8. The 1985 Standards for Judging promulgated by the American Bar Associa-
tion/Law Student Division Client Counseling Competition Committee are reprinted in
the Appendix following this introduction.
9. See Introduction to the 1985 Standards for Judging reprinted in the Appendix
infra.
10. See Standards II, III, VI, and VII in the 1985 Standards for Judging reprinted
in the Appendix infra.
11. As surprising as it may seem today, the effort to formulate standards for the
Client Counseling Competition was the first time that any standards were promul-
gated to evaluate a lawyer-client consultation. The project to refine these standards
has been and continues to be onoging.
12. See Mosten & Briggs, The Role of the Therapist in the Co-mediation of Di-
vorce (to appear in 1985-86 Winter-Spring issue of the Journalof Divorce).
13. This type of interdisciplinary activity is on the cutting edge of current devel-
opments in professional responsibility. Issues include fee splitting, unauthorized prac-
19851 INTRODUCTION 1333

law schools have recognized this interdisciplinary trend by offering

joint degree programs or by bringing in 14mental health professionals
to teach or co-teach law student courses.
Following this interdisciplinary trend, Dr. Nancy W. Perry and
Professor Larry L. Teply of Creighton University offer a major con-
tribution to the field of interviewing and counseling-a comprehen-
sive article on the Interviewing, Counseling, and In-Court
Examination of Children: PracticalApproaches for Attorneys. Rec-
ognizing the need for input from the field of psychology and psychia-
try, the authors clearly present the stages of child development for
these often "involuntary participants" in the interviewing and court
process. Demonstrating a keen understanding of the conceptual
models of Binder/Price and other writers on the legal interviewing
process, the authors break new ground by applying these concepts in
the specialized area of interviewing children. For example, Binder/
Price stresses the relevance and reliability of factual information.
The authors apply the Binder/Price model by identifying and com-
prehensively analyzing four basic factors concerning the veracity of
children: (1) perception and recall; (2) ordering and interpreting
perceptions; (3) suggestibility; and (4) undue influence. This integra-

tice, and confidentitality. The standards (or lack thereof) often differ significantly
between and within professions.
14. Some inspirational examples of mental health professionals serving as mem-
bers of law facilities include the following:
Dr. Andrew Watson is a psychiatrist-lawyer at the University of Michigan who
holds a joint appointment at the law and medical schools. Dr. Watson is a pioneer in
the conceptualizaiton of the lawyer consultation. See A. WATSON, THE LAWYER IN THE
INTERVIEWING-COUNSELING PROCESS (1976); Watson, Some Psychological Aspects of
Teaching Professional Responsibility. 16 J. LEGAL EDUC. 1 (1963); Watson, Profession-
alizing the Lawyer's Role as Counselor: Risk Taking for Rewards, 1979 ARIZ. ST. L.J.
17; Watson, The Quest for Professional Competence: PsychologicalAspects of Legal Ed-
ucation, 37 CIN. L. REV. 91 (1968).
Dr. Murray Blumenthal, a psychologist, is a tenured member of the law faculty of
the University of Denver and principal drater of the ABA Client Counseling Competi-
tion Standards for Judging. See note 8 supra.
Dr. Robert Redmount, a clinical psychologist-lawyer, is a noted author of works on
the lawyer as "counselor" and serves as a lecturer and consultant to several law
schools in the humanization of law school education. See T. SHAFFER & R. REDMOUNT,
LEGAL INTERVIEWING AND COUNSELING (1980); Redmount, Marriage Problems, Inter-
vention, and the Legal Professional,50 CONN. B.J. 11 (1976); HumanisticLaw Through
Legal Counseling, 2 CONN. L. REV. 98 (1969); Redmount, Perception and Strategy in
Divorce Counseling, 35 CONN. B.J. 249 (1960); Redmount, New Dimensions of Profes-
sional Responsibility, 3 J. LEGAL PROF. 43 (1978); Redmount, Toward A Lawyering Ju-
risprudence, 2 J. LEGAL PROF. 24 (1979); Redmount, Law As A Psychological
Phenomenon, 18 AM. J. JURIS. 80 (1973); Redmount, Attorney Personalitiesand Some
PsychologicalAspects of Legal Consultation,109 U. PA. L. REV. 972 (1961).
Other psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and clergy serve in ongoing roles
at law schools throughout the country and are instrumental in changing the view of
lawyering.
1334 CREIGHTON LAW REVIEW [Vol. 18

tion of concept and application to interviewing children occurs

throughout the article.
Moving from the interviewing and counseling process to ligita-
tion, the authors apply their interactional analysis to a review of
legal authority in respect to the practice of examining child wit-
nesses. The authors lay out the factors of legal competency, qualifi-
cation the child witness, direct examination, cross-examination, and
weight of a child's testimony. The authors round out their article
with practical pointers (e.g., don't talk about school, use toys or draw-
ings, switch topics, and use indirect questions) that provide useful
handles to utilize the preceding conceptual analysis. This article
should be required reading for law students and lawyers entering the
fields of child custody, child abuse, juvenile law, or in other situations
when counseling or interviewing children is required.

The student article on "Cross-Cultural Legal Counseling" de-

scribes a number of situations that the modern lawyer must be ready
to face involving cross-cultural situations. The article also recom-
mends several proposals that the author believes would increase
awareness and skill training in cross-cultural legal counseling.

More than one lawyer serving as a judge in the Client Counsel-

ing Competition has recognized the need for increased personal train-
ing in interviewing and counseling lawyers after watching the superb
performances of student competitors. 15 This increased awareness of
the need for continuing skill training for the practicing bar is another
goal of the Client Counseling Competition and a benefit for the
profession.
The symbiotic relationship between the practicing bar and the
Competition is a two-way street. The Client Counseling Competition
depends on the participation of practicing lawyers 16 to offer organiza-
tional input, time, experience for judging, and insightful critiques to
17
inspire and educate student participants.

15. Personally, I find that each year my own interviewing and counseling skills
undergo an improvement during the month following the National Client Counseling
Competition.
16. An example of such participation is the contribution of Harold Rock, Esquire,
of Omaha, Nebraska, a partner in the national law firm of Kutak, Rock & Campbell.
After serving as a judge in client counseling competitions, Mr. Rock served on the Cli-
ent Counseling Committee with distinction for nearly a decade and facilitated coopera-
tion between the competition and the practicing bar.
17. The Client Counseling Competition has a miniscule annual budget of less than
$20,000 and now has a permanent committee of three professionals and a law student
1985] INTRODUCTION 1335

Many of the lawyers who graciously participate as judges and

speakers in the Client Counseling Competition are superstars in the
profession. Some are renowned trial lawyers who are well recog-
nized for ligitation skills-largely because courts are open to the pub-
lic. However, the client interactional skills of these professionals are
generally not open to public scrutiny nor generally considered as par-
ticularly important in the lawyering process (especially when com-
pared to searing cross-examination or inspirational closing
argument).
Therefore, when an esteemed trial lawyer such as John R.
Martzell of New Orleans talks about client interviewing-law stu-
dents listen. I was fortunate to hear Mr. Martzell address the stu-
dent participants at the 1983 Client Counseling Competition Finals at
Loyola Law School in New Orleans. The subject was "Counseling
the White-Collar Defendant." The students sat spellbound. They ac-
ted a bit surprised and warily impressed that a trial lawyer of Mr.
Martzell's stature would give such careful thought and reflection to
the client-lawyer interaction outside the courtroom.
In this issue, John Martzell opens up a process that usually is
hidden behind closed doors. The publication of this transcript of a
simulated lawyer-client consultation offers an illustration of an ex-
perienced trial lawyer counseling a white-collar criminal defendant.
It also permits students of the client counseling process to apply con-
ceptual theories of interviewing-counseling to Mr. Martzell's per-
formance. It is indisputable that Mr. Martzell is effective in
representing his clients. The key questions for students of the inter-
viewing process might be:

director that changes yearly. The current professionals are: Professor Gerald A. Rault
(Loyola, New Orleans); The Honorable Fred J. Williams; and Jerry Bloom, Esquire.
Michael Nay Couick, Esquire, chairs the Law Student Division Competition Commit-
tee.
Since the inception of the competition, law students have been full members of
the Committee and have made significant contributions. For example, Carole Rouin
(1982-83, McGeorge Law School) initiated an alumni program to involve former com-
petition participants as judges, coaches, and committee resources; Mitch Kingsley
(1983-84, Loyola-Chicago Law School) was instrumental in promoting the competition
throughout the country and offered insightful input in competition policy decisions;
Kim Kirn (1984-85, Notre Dame Law School) was appointed National Student Director
of the competition and assumed a professional role in coordinating the administration
of the competition with the ABA Law Student staff, the committee, and the law
schools.
The ABA Competition Committee depends on the in-kind contributions of (1) law
school, faculty, and administrative support, (2) volunteer lawyers and mental health
professionals to serve as judges, and (3) the work of hundreds of volunteer students.
This in-kind support has been valued at over $1 million annually. The very fact that
law schools and practitioners choose to contribute their time and resources to this ex-
tent is but one indication of the value of the Competition.
1336 CREIGHTON LAW REVIEW [Vol. 18

1. How does the counseling performance relate to success for

later case preparation, negotiation, and trial?
2. Why is Mr. Martzell effective? Which interviewing and
counseling concepts and models does he apply?
3. How could the legal counseling performance be improved?
From its inception, the main purpose of the Client Counseling
Competition has been to expose law students to the challenges of the
law office and to begin thinking about the substantive, procedural,
ethical, and interactional issues that such clients consultations raise.
Pondering the questions raised by Mr. Martzell's transcript furthers
.this goal. 18

This exploration also is furthered by the two student articles in

this issue on ProfessionalResponsibility Issues Arising in the Initial
Legal Consultations and Suggestions for Successful Interviewing in
the ABA Client Counseling Competition.
The Client Counseling Competition has attempted to inject pro-
fessional responsibility issues into most consultations. Practicing law-
yers are forced to confront ethical dilemmas on nearly a daily basis-
why should law students be spared that experience? Students often
find it much more difficult to handle the ethical dilemmas with the
client sitting across the table than to digest the material for a written
examination in a required course on the subject. Client Counseling
judges are instructed in the Judging Standards 19 to evaluate student
competitors on their treatment of professional responsibility issues,
and these thorny problems usually provide moments of high drama
for the competitors.
The student article which analyzes the ethical issues inherent in
a legal consultation draws upon examples from Client Counseling
Competition consultation situations utilized over the years. 20 Re-
flecting the ABA Model Code and Rules of Professional Responsibil-
ity, the author reviews the key issues of confidentiality, fees, conflict
of interest, the unpopular client, communication with opposing coun-
sel, and consulting with a client already represented by counsel.

18. Cf. T. SHAFFER & R. REDMOUNT, LEGAL INTERVIEWING AND COUNSELING

(1980). This book is based on transcripts and the analysis thereof is an approach to
studying the lawyer consulation.
19. See Standard V in the 1985 Standards for Judging reprinted in the Appendix
infra ("Moral and Ethical Issues: Recognized, clarified and responded to any moral or
ethical issues which may have arisen, without being prejudical in judgment").
20. The ABA Law Student Division has compiled all written client profiles, mem-
oranda to the student lawyers, and video tapes of many Regional and most National
Final Rounds of the Competition. These materials are available for scholarly writing,
training for the competition, and other educational proposes.
1985] INTRODUCTION 1337

This article should become part of the training for the Client
Counseling Competition because it is a ready reference for the princi-
pal professional responsibility issues that a student is likely to en-
counter in the Competition and in practice.
The specific training concerns for the Client Counseling Compe-
tition is the focus of the other student article: Suggestions for Suc-
cessful Interviewing in the ABA Client Counseling Competition.
Faculty advisors and afficionados of the Client Counseling Competi-
tion are hard pressed to offer any simple "winning formula for suc-
cess" in the Competition. Since only about half the schools in the
Competition offer course work in counseling, students in other insti-
tutions eager for the experience enter the competition with little or
no instruction or guidance. The author offers sound advice for those
students as well as others who are more. fortunate to receive appro-
priate instruction and coaching. Particularly helpful to all students is
the walk-through the Competition's Standards for Judging and the
sample note-taking format.
This student article demonstrates that vast amount of training
and reflection that each student must undergo about the lawyering
process before the client ever walks into the office. It is this new
type of "thinking like a lawyer" that Professor Louis Brown yearned
for in developing the Client Counseling Competition and which will
augur well for training healers and helpers of clients for decades into
the future.

This law review issue takes a look at the 1985 "State of the Art"
in client interviewing and counseling. But, what does future explora-
tion into this field protend?
Brilliant scholarship has been developed in the appellate case
method of studying. What about the "law office case method"?
Couse materials might be developed to include consultation dialogues
to be intergrated into the standard curricula. Such dialogues do ap-
pear in references on the lawyering process as demonstrated by
Brown and Martzell in this issue. Yet, students in contracts, wills,
trusts, and other subjects would benefit from focusing on these dia-
logues and questions: What are the substantive issues raised? What
are the procedural issues? What are the human factors? What solu-
tions are available? In this way, the definition of "thinking like a
lawyer" might undergo an early and profound transformation.
Current thinking about interviewing and counseling generally
presumes that the legal consultation is the bridge between the cli-
ent's pre-consultation life and subsequent lawyering activity. The
1338 CREIGHTON LAW REVIEW [Vol. 18

consultation is viewed as assisting the lawyer in handling the case or

negotiating a transaction. Yet, the consultation may be the only
lawyering activity in which the lawyer is involved with his client. A
decision may be made not to file suit. Similarly, a lawyer might then
be to accept the agreement as is-no further negotiations, drafting, or
other lawyering activity may be required.
The foregoing are law office decisions that settle disputes, affect
the court system, the economy, and certainly the lives of the princi-
pals. There is much need for scholarship on consultation decision
making in which client non-action or fully informed client acceptance
of an offer or agreement are the products of the consultation.
Despite this need to focus on the consultation, most consultations
are in fact linked to subsequent lawyering. Most literature focuses
on the first client meeting.2 1 Disciplined inquiry is needed to cover
the range of meetings in both litigation and transactional settings.
For example, legal counseling concerns might be addressed in areas
such as presenting settlement offers to the client; evaluating terms of
business formation agreements; or counseling a client in selecting a
guardian and trustee.
Finally, the literature is just beginning to develop the notion of
the asymptomatic consultation. 22 In essence, the lawyer-client meet-
ing might not be predicated on a specific case or transaction. Train-
ing and scholarship is needed to teach lawyers how consultation may
be part of a periodic check up. To implement a legal check up, con-
duct a legal audit, or to raise preventive planning issues during a cli-
ent consultation are lawyering skills that are being recognized as
important-yet little has been written about how to put this aware-
ness into practice.
The Client Counseling Competition has been an exciting educa-
tional and experimental tool for the improvement of the complex
and dynamic concept of lawyering. Perhaps the Competition will
complement developments in scholarship and skills training in the
continued exploration of the client consultation.

21. Works focusing on process that link the consultation with subsequent lawyer-
ing include: G. BELLOW & B. MOULTON, THE LAWYERING PROCESS (1978); L. BROWN &
E. DAUER, PLANNING BY LAWYERS: MATERIALS ON A NONADVERSIAL LEGAL PROCESS
(1978); and D. BINDER & S. PRICE, LEGAL INTERVIEWING AND COUNSELING: A CLIENT-
CENTERED APPROACH (1977).
22. See Goldsblatt, Legal Audit: A Useful Tool for the Corporate Lawyer, 3 PRE-
VENTIVE L. REP. 162 (1985); Brown, ProvidingPreventive Legal Care in PrepaidLegal
Service Plans: The Periodic Legal Check Up, 2 PREVENTIVE L. REP. 102 (1984); Brown,
Legal Audit Update, 54 N.Y. ST. B.J. 282 (1982); Brown, Periodic Check Up: Report of
Law School Term PaperProject,29 J. LEGAL EDuC. 438 (1978); L. BROWN, MANUAL FOR
PERIODIC CHECK UPS (1983); L. BROWN & E. DAUER, supra note 21, at 335-58.
1985] INTRODUCTION 1339

Appendix
1985
CLIENT COUNSELING COMPETITION
STANDARDS FOR JUDGING
STUDENT ATTORNEYS
JUDGE
DATE
TIME ROOM
The use of the following standards recognizes that there are many effective styles
of legal interviewing and counseling and there is no set pattern of problems presented
to attorneys by their clients. However, the criteria are based on the belief that in or-
der to work effectively with the clients, attorneys would have to, at a minimum:
* Establish effective relationships with their clients.
* Learn how clients viewed their problems and their situations.
* Learn the clients' initial goals and expectations.
* Analyze the clients' problems.
* Develop alternative "solutions" for the clients' problems.
* Assist clients in their understanding and to make informed choices among
alternatives.
* Recognize and deal with moral and ethical problems.
* Effectively conclude the interview.
* As legal counselors, be able to learn from their interviewing and counseling
experience.
Thus, we ask that you use the following standards together with your experience
and best judgment as a basis for comparing the students and to help them learn from
their participation in the competition.
In arriving at the final overall rating, we recommend that judges do not attempt to
translate the ratings into numbers or add them up in a numerical way, since the scales
are not necessarily of equal weight.

1. Working Atmosphere Established the beginning of an effective professional re-

lationship and working atmosphere and if and when appropriate oriented the cli-
ent to the special nature of the relationship, including confidentiality, fees, mu-
tual obligations and rights, after hours availability, duration and plan of the in-
terview, etc., in a courteous, sensitive and professional manner:

HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE HIGHLY

INEFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE
COMMENTS:

II. Description of the Problem Learned how the client viewed his or her situation,
using a combination of listening and questioning, drawing out both information
and feelings as appropriate, to develop a reasonably complete and reliable de-
scription of the problem.

HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE HIGHLY

INEFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE
COMMENTS:
1340 CREIGHTON LAW REVIEW [Vol. 18

III. Client's Goals and Expectations Learned the client's goals and initial expecta-
tions and modified or developed these as necessary.

HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE HIGHLY

INEFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE
COMMENTS:

IV. Problem Analysis Analyzed the client's problem with creativity and from both
legal and non-legal perspectives, resulting in a clear and useful formulation of
the problem.

HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE HIGHLY

INEFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE
COMMENTS:

V. Moral and Ethical Issues Recognized, clarified and responded to any moral or
ethical issues which may have arisen, without being prejudicial in judgments.

HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE HIGHLY

INEFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE
COMMENTS:

VI. Alternative Courses of Action Consistent with the analysis of the client's prob-
lem, developed a set of potentially effective and feasible alternatives, both legal
and non-legal:

HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE HIGHLY

INEFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE
COMMENTS:

VII. Client's Informed Choice As appropriate, assisted the client in his/her under-
standing of problems and solutions and in making an informed choice, taking po-
tential legal, economic, social and psychological consequences into account:

HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE HIGHLY

INEFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE
COMMENTS:
1985] INTRODUCTION 1341

VIII. Effective Conclusion Concluded the interview skillfully, and left the client with
a feeling of reasonable confidence and understanding, with appropriate reassur-
ance, and with a clear sense of specific expectations and mutual obligations to
follow.

HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE HIGHLY

INEFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE
COMMENTS:

IX. Teamwork As collaborating counselors worked together as a team, with flexibil-

ity and an appropriate balance of participation.

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COMMENTS:

X. Post-Interview Reflection During the follow-up phase gave evidence of having

recognized their own and the client's feelings; the strengths and limitations of
their interviewing and counseling skills; their handling of the substantive aspects
of the client's problem, both legal and non-legal, and provided for an effective
follow-up.

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COMMENTS:

XI. Overall Rating Synthesizing the above criteria as relevant in an overall rating, I
view the interviewing and counseling team as:

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INEFFECTIVE INEFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE
COMMENTS: