President’s Message, Fall 2025

Welcome to the Fall Edition of the WLIB Newsletter. Thank you to our Editor in Chief, Linda Spiegel, and all those who volunteer their time and brainpower to deliver well written, interesting articles about everything from recent legal issues to travel and dining tips. WLIB would also like to thank those who advertise in our newsletter. Your advertisements help us to continue the tradition of our newsletter which goes out across our legal community as well as social media and the WLIB website.

Someone recently said to me that I am not only a lawyer but also a therapist. I believe this is true. As attorneys, clients come to us with problems and look to us to solve them. Oftentimes, those problems have emotional underpinnings and attorneys need to be aware of those issues to best serve our clients’ interests and needs. I say best serve because we all know that we can only do our best on behalf of our clients. I have heard many times in court that if both sides leave unhappy then justice has been served – no one gets everything they bargained for in court – we strive for the best result.

I did a bit of research on this issue of lawyer and therapist and found some interesting perspectives. Quick bit of trivia – there is a movie from 1933 starring John Barrymore called Counsellor at Law about a partner in an NYC law firm whose past is going to bite him in the a**. I will have to check this out as I was not aware of this movie before now…but I digress.

A firm in Texas has as part of their website a page entitled, “An Attorney’s Role as Counselor at Law – What Does that Mean?” The article expresses that as counselors at law attorneys develop relationships with their clients such that the clients feel nurtured, supported, and serviced. The use of words like “we” and “us” build a team environment with each client to encourage a collaborative or sense of having a common goal between the client and the lawyer. Listening to client needs, gathering necessary information, providing options and guidance, and discussing strategy are all part of the attorney-client relationship. Last but not least, emotional support is an important part of this firm’s formula for successful client interactions.

A firm in California has a page on their website entitled, “The Lawyer as Counselor.” The article speaks of the lawyer as an Advocate characterizing that moniker with the attorney in court standing up for their client’s rights – like we often see on television. A related term is also referenced, that of Counselor. The counselor taking on the more therapeutic persona of an attorney – a listener, a consoler, a confidante, and an advisor. Sometimes just giving the client a chance to vent their concerns and frustrations gives the client intangible satisfaction and assurance that whatever has brought them to the firm will eventually be behind them.

Finally, The Wake County Bar Association out of Raleigh, NC, posted an article back in 2017 that not only discusses and points out that the “practice of law [includes] assisting by advice, counsel, or otherwise in any legal work; and to advise or give opinion upon the legal rights of any person, firm or corporation” but also that our Rules of Professional Conduct guide us in how we engage with our clients and, as we say in the constitutional framework, provide the floor not the ceiling of our duties to our clients.

With these perspectives in mind, I remind our members and readers that the RPCs remind us of our obligations as lawyers, advocates, attorneys, and counselors. Be mindful of the types of cases you bring to your office. We are duty bound to competently represent our clients. We must handle our cases with reasonable diligence. We must have open lines of communication with our clients so that they are reasonably informed of their matter and respond to their inquiries in a timely manner. We must take the time to explain the process and issues presented with client cases to assist clients in understanding their case and enable them to make informed decisions. We must keep client confidentiality and ensure that other client interests do not conflict.

Do the RPCs tell us to hold our clients’ hands when they come to us with heartbreaking stories…no. Do the RPCs advise us to sit quietly and listen so that clients can vent to us (which also gives us a chance sometimes to learn more about the facts of the case) …no. There is no real guidance on this issue of being a counselor or therapist to our clients. It is a personal decision that we each must make when a new client walks in the door. We must assess not only their legal needs but also, quite possibly, their emotional needs. It is important for us to remember that we don’t know where people are coming from or what they have experienced before they walked into our office and needed legal advice. Sometimes, taking the therapeutic approach to start may not only give you insight into your client and their needs, but also it is likely to begin building a trusting and long-lasting business relationship that is mutually beneficial to all those involved.

Be well. Stay safe. Until next time… namaste.