FUNCTIONS OF LEGAL ASSISTANCE ATTORNEYS

A legal assistance attorney, in addition to his or her responsibility to discharge his or her assigned duties that are beyond the scope of a legal assistance role, must perform a myriad of legal functions to satisfy the legal assistance needs of his or her fellow Navy citizens. The breadth and variety of these functions are discussed as follows.

The legal assistance attorney and the LN in today's modern Navy have an increasingly important and significant role to play in helping to maintain the high morale and personal motivation needed in an all-volunteer force. As the concept of group legal services gains greater support throughout our society, the Navy's legal assistance program has provided and will continue to provide comprehensive and high-quality legal services to Navy and Marine Corps personnel. This is done through an expansion in scope of the traditional program and further through the expanded legal assistance program.

With the expansion of the traditional program and the development of the expanded legal assistance program, there is an increased need for effective liaison with other government agencies as well as with other naval activities. As the legal assistance attorney and the LN come into contact with the civilian legal practice, relationships with the local bar associations, courts, and the business community must be established on a sound footing. The net result should be better legal assistance for clients.

ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONS

The very nature of legal assistance requires good rapport between the legal assistance attorney, the LN, and the client. Striving for greater respect and understanding is a necessary ingredient of a successful legal assistance program.

For naval personnel to have faith and confidence in their lawyer and the LN, they must first know them and _{understand their services.} It is at the level of daily contacts with clients that the greatest opportunities for fostering good rapport exist. Following are suggestions for developing such relations in these daily contacts.

First Impressions

Very often a client's first impression of a Navy lawyer is obtained through a telephone call or a visit to the legal assistance office. As an LN, you should try to see your office as others might see it. Is it businesslike,

clean, comfortable, and efficient looking? Do you and the other personnel working in the outer office appear to be competent and friendly? Are the offices soundproof enough in the form of carpets, curtains, and other materials so that clients' problems can be discussed quietly, discreetly, and in private? The clients' waiting room as well as the lawyer's private office should present a professional appearance.

The LN's telephone manners are very important. A voice with a smile can encourage a prospect to follow up his or her phone call with a visit. A gruff or impatient telephone reception can discourage a prospective client from ever seeing the legal assistance attorney. By providing the receptionist with a checklist, the receptionist's contribution to the operation of the legal assistance office can be materially increased and the job made more interesting as well. See figure 11-1 for a sample checklist.

Figure 11-1.-Telephone receptionist checklist.

Figure 11-1.-Telephone receptionist checklist-Continued.

At the time the client first calls or comes into the office and speaks to the receptionist or LN, inquiry should be made as to the general nature of the assistance being sought; for example, taxes, wills, automobile registrations, and accidents. Once that has been determined, by consulting the telephone receptionist checklist, you or the receptionist can advise the client what documents or information the client should bring along at the time he or she consults with the legal assistance attorney. By following this procedure, one or more trips to the office and much waiting time in the office can often be saved for the client as well as for the legal assistance attorney.

When you (or the legal assistance attorney) are busy, the client will appreciate recognition that his or her time is also valuable. An advance telephone call to set anew appointment or a few moments spent in explaining the delay to the client are merely applications of the Golden Rule in attorney-client relationships.