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Abstract

This working paper describes a project initiated at Washington University in March 1995 to analyze and improve the way lawyers interview clients. Although this project is informed by the increasingly rich literature on attorney-client discourse, it will differ from any previous work of which we are aware. In particular, although our project design has been greatly assisted by the thorough and thoughtful report of an interdisciplinary study of attorney-client interviews at the District of Columbia Law School by Gay Gellhorn, Lynne Robins and Pat Roth in a recent issue of the Clinical Law Review (hereafter referred to as "the DC Professional Discourse Project"), it significantly differs from their study in the following respects: - The interviews observed will be conducted by experienced attorneys, not law students. - Data on the interviews will include not only sociolinguistic analysis but also input from the clients. - Because the project site is a public defender's office, the project has been designed within the constraints necessary to preserve fully the attorney-client privilege.

Publication Title

Clinical Law Review

Volume

2

Issue

1

First Page

285

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