Every law firm describes itself as client-centred. Since none describes itself otherwise, the phrase has stopped carrying information. What follows is what we actually mean by it.
We tell you what the case is worth before you commit to it.
A client who is told their matter is strong will pay the fee. A client who is told it is weak may go elsewhere. The commercial incentive runs in one direction, and that is precisely why an honest assessment is worth something when you receive one.
At the first meeting we will tell you what the law provides, what the evidence in your possession is likely to establish, and what the realistic outcome is — including where that outcome is a settlement rather than a decree, and including where the honest answer is that you should not litigate at all. Where a matter turns on a document you do not have, we will say so before it is filed rather than after.
We explain the position in language you can act on.
A client who does not understand what is happening in their own case cannot make decisions about it. They can only defer to their advocate, which is not the same thing.
Where a matter is at a stage that requires a decision from you — whether to accept a settlement, whether to appeal, whether to press an application or let it go — we will set out what each course involves, what it is likely to cost in time and money, and what the consequence of each is. The decision is yours to make. Our part is to make sure it is an informed one.
You are told what is happening, when it happens.
Most complaints against advocates in this country are not about the outcome of the case. They are about the client not knowing what was happening in it — dates that came and went without a word, an adjournment nobody mentioned, an order passed months ago that the client learned of by accident.
You will be told what happened on each date and what the next step is. Where a date has gone off without progress — which in Indian litigation happens often — you will be told that too, rather than being left to assume otherwise.
We take the matters we are equipped to conduct.
Where a case lies outside our practice, or outside the courts in which we appear, we will say so and, where we can, point you to someone who does that work. A file accepted for the sake of accepting it serves the firm and not the client.
None of this is remarkable. It is simply what a client is entitled to expect, and it is the standard we hold ourselves to on every matter we take.
