{"id":37778,"date":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/the-attorney-client-relationship.html"},"modified":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","slug":"the-attorney-client-relationship","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/litigation-disputes\/the-attorney-client-relationship.html","title":{"rendered":"The Attorney-Client Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    <p><em>This article was edited and reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw Attorney Writers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n                | Last reviewed\n        <time>\n                            May 20, 2026\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Legally Reviewed\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\" rel=\"noopener\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n\n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Fact-Checked\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rxbodyfield\" xmlns:o=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/office\" xmlns:st1=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/smarttags\" xmlns:w=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/word\" xmlns:x=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/excel\"><h3>Client<\/h3><h4>When You Hire a Lawyer, You Should Expect Professional and Ethical Behavior From a Lawyer Who:<\/h4><ul><li>WILL treat you with respect and courtesy.<\/li><li>WILL handle your legal matter competently and diligently.<\/li><li>WILL exercise independent professional judgment on your behalf.<\/li><li>WILL charge a reasonable fee and explain in advance how that fee will be computed.<\/li><li>WILL respond promptly to telephone calls and written communications.<\/li><li>WILL keep you informed and provide you with copies of important papers.<\/li><li>WILL preserve client confidences learned during the lawyer-client relationship.<\/li><li>WILL exhibit the highest degree of ethical conduct and deal honestly and truthfully with you, the adversary, other lawyers and the judge.<\/li><li>WILL be guided by a fundamental sense of fair play for the process and the participants and will not abuse the system or the profession.<\/li><li>WILL respect your decisions on the objectives to be pursued in your case, as permitted by law and the rules of professional conduct, including whether to settle your case.<\/li><\/ul><h3>Attorney<\/h3><h4>Your Lawyer Will Expect You to be Honest and Forthright:<\/h4><ul><li>TO treat the lawyer with courtesy and respect.<\/li><li>TO tell your lawyer the truth and promptly notify the lawyer of any change of circumstance.<\/li><li>TO understand that the lawyer has other clients who are equally deserving of the lawyer&#39;s time and efforts.<\/li><li>TO tell your lawyer immediately if you are unhappy regarding the representation and the reasons why.<\/li><li>TO refrain from asking the lawyer to engage in illegal, unethical or unprofessional activities.<\/li><li>TO be prompt in communications, for appointments or legal proceedings.<\/li><li>TO pay your lawyer promptly and as agreed.<\/li><li>TO question promptly billing entries which appear incorrect or which you do not understand.<\/li><li>TO discuss the matter with your attorney immediately if you cannot pay as agreed.<\/li><\/ul><p\/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TO discuss the matter with your attorney immediately if you cannot pay as &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"corporate_categories":[6522,6524,6520,6532],"class_list":["post-37778","corporate","type-corporate","status-publish","hentry","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__civil-litigation","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__civil-litigation__civil-procedure","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__other-litigation-disputes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate\/37778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/corporate"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"corporate_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate_categories?post=37778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}