All's Well that Ends Well: The Importance of Full and Effective Closure in Lawyer-Client Relationships

Abstract

This Article addresses a subject that has not received serious academic attention in law or in clinical scholarship: how lawyers should end their relationships with clients. As human beings, we intuitively understand the importance of endings in relationships, and lawyerclient relationships often impact both the lawyer and the client. Despite the amount of attention paid to other aspects of client interviewing and counseling, such as how to conduct an effective initial client interview, there is relatively little literature on how to achieve effective closure. This Article draws on research from the therapeutic professional field about how to effectively end professional relationships. Going beyond the minimal ethical considerations about how to end the lawyer-client business relationship, it derives a three-step model that can be used by practitioners and by clinical professors preparing their students for ending meetings with clients to help bring effective closure to the emotional and relational aspects of the representation.

Keywords: therapeutic jurisprudence