I'm in my 40s and married to another solicitor, and I was getting dissatisfied with the way that solicitors relate with the public and their clients. In fact I was pretty fed up with the way that they interact with each other, both in other firms, and in their own firms!
I've been to many meetings with the public and clients where it was obvious that the lawyers had little empathy or understanding of their clients. The clients were trying to talk about an emotional situation, and the lawyer was just interested in extracting the necessary legal facts. All kinds of situations in which lawyers get involved are very sensitive to their clients; for example most employees spend longer at work than they do with their spouses, and when employment relationships break down they are very difficult to deal with, emotionally. Many contract disputes between big commercial enterprises are very personal as well, because a long-term relationship has broken down.
I looked around for another job, but after a few interviews and discussions I came to the conclusion that within a couple of years I'd be dissatisfied with my new colleagues as well.
For a few years I have been interested in business psychology; how people work together - and how they don't work together - why people prefer to buy services from some people are not from others – I suppose you would call that marketing psychology .
I’ve also read a lot about Neuro Linguistic Programming and Emotional Intelligence. This gave me an interest in reading peoples’ body language . It it tells you a whole lot more about them , and what they mean, than the words they actually use.
With these insights, I began to see that the experience of dealing with solicitors is very unsatisfactory for the average client. They are tense and nervous when they come to your office, they are anxious about unexplained costs, they find it difficult to concentrate on what you are saying, and they find it difficult to express themselves as fully as they would want to. So I've decided that wherever possible I will take the hassle out of using a solicitor. I'll make the experience more friendly, and meetings will take place where the client chooses for the most part.