As a lawyer, you provide a problem-solving service for clients in need and enable them to exercise their legal rights. Empathy and the desire to go ‘above and beyond’ to support and help people experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage, or who are at risk of loss of liberty or an unjust outcome, is natural.
However, internalising the crisis your client is facing can lead to a lack of objectivity. You can’t save or rescue your client or be their emotional support person—and attempting to do so can adversely affect your ability to serve their interests, as well as being hard on you.
The risk of over-stepping the lawyer-client relationship boundary can be particularly acute when working with clients who are at risk of violence or abuse or who are otherwise experiencing vulnerability e.g. by reason of age, poor physical or mental health or economic circumstances. You may be required to meet with your client outside of an office-based setting, including in your clients’ homes or other residential settings, and may be asked or expected to become involved in personal matters that go beyond your client’s legal issues.
In a criminal law setting, you may be more likely to encounter clients with multiple and complex needs, who are experiencing or have experienced vulnerability and disadvantage, or who have encountered compromised boundaries in other areas of life. Additionally, the stakes are generally at their highest in the criminal law context, when your client’s liberty is often at risk. As Gino Dal Pont notes in Lawyers’ Professional Responsibility, ‘Courts have cautioned of the dangers that arise, particularly in criminal cases, where lawyers become involved to a degree that unbalances their professional judgment and identifies them with the client’s cause’ (at [17.65]).
As a criminal lawyer, your role is to protect and promote your client’s legal rights and ensure that they receive a fair trial. Internalising your client’s plight puts your own emotional and psychological safety at risk and can make you vulnerable to your client’s demands. For example, you may be tempted to offer to become surety for your client’s bail, in contravention of rule 17.4 of the Australian Solicitors’ Conduct Rules. There is also the potential that your client will develop an unintentional dependency on you, particularly if they are in custody and you are one of their few outside contacts and represent their hope of regaining their freedom (see Legal Practitioners Conduct Board v Morel [2004] SASC 168).
When working with clients experiencing significant vulnerability or disadvantage, it is crucial to remind yourself of the parameters of your role, and that the value you bring to the lawyer-client relationship relies upon your independence, your objectivity, and your ability to maintain sufficient distance from your client to exercise forensic judgement about their case.
Seek out or access debriefing opportunities to assist you to process the emotional pressures that inevitably arise when working in sensitive areas, particularly as a new lawyer.