Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 1
Definition of Terms
A. Legal Interviewing the task of
gathering information which involves the
gathering of relevant data specifically of
the following:
1. Nature of the clients problem,
2. Clients legal position, and
3. Probable consequences of
adopting litigation or some other
course of action to resolve the
matter.
B. Legal Counselling task of
formulating solutions.
- process in which potential solutions with
their probable positive and negative
consequences are identified and
weighed in order to decide which
alternative is most appropriate.
- working with a person who has a problem
in which potential solution, with their
probably positive and negative
consequences, are identified and then
weighed in order to decide which
alternative is most appropriate.
C. Counsel an adviser, a person
professionally engaged in the trial of
management of a case in court
- a legal advocate managing a case
at law
D. Effective and Vigilant Counsel it
necessarily and logically requires that the
lawyer be present and able to advise and
assist his client from the time the
confessant answers the first question asked
by the investigating officer until the signing
of the extrajudicial confession.
E. Attorney at law class of persons who
are by license, officers of the courts,
empowered to appear, prosecute and
Chapter 2
Pre-interview Considerations
A. Preparation
1. Preparing yourself identify your
objectives
2. Preparing your client
B. Timing
C. The Environment
A. Need for a reception area
B. Interview room
D. Seating arrangement
E. Note-taking
F. Using a tape recorder
Advantages:
Interviewer can ask more
questions in less time than the
notetaker.
Taped interviews tend to have
the crisp ring of truth.
The interviewer can concentrate
more in the interview.
CPOlorpesbnd
Chapter IV
Questioning Skills
word
2. Quintamensional Design
Sequence designed by George
Gallup.
a. Awareness step
b. Uninfluenced Attitude step
c. Specific Attitude step
d. Reasoning step
e. Intensity of attitude step
Types of Questions used in Legal
Interview
1. Open-ended questions
Advantages:
Allows clients to report their
observations in specific details.
Increases clients willingness to
give more information.
Facilitates communication by
allowing the client to get
information off his chest.
Assists the client to overcome ego
threat, case threat, and etiquette
barrier and trauma
.
Disadvantages:
They have a detrimental effect if
the client is extremely verbose,
and has a poor sense of
relevancy.
It does not elicit sufficient detail.
It leave the client free to select
any aspect of the situation he
chooses to describe.
2. Leading questions
Advantage:
Information is known to the client.
Disadvantage:
The probability of distortion
especially if the client is unsure of
the answer.
4. Narrow questions
Advantages:
If client wants
to avoid a
sensitive topic, you can use
narrow question to overcome the
problem.
The client can respond easily to
non-threatening questions
Disadvantages:
Most of information that could be
developed will be lost
It involves detailed probing
5. Probe questions
Other Forms of Questions
1. Interrogative questions
2. Extension questions
3. Mirror or reverse question
4. Summary or Crystallizing
question
5. Comparative Question
6. Hypothetical Question
7. Multiple or Double Barreled
Question
8. Close-ended Question
9. Combination Question
Chapter V
Psychological Factors that Inhibit a
Good Interview
Psychological Factors:
3. Yes/No questions
to be an active listener?
Concentration
Active Participation
Watching for non-verbal signs
Taking account of feelings as well
as the legal content of what the
client says
5. Practice
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
9. Hee-hee
laughter
10. Ho-ho laughter
11. Smirking
o. Lip biting
p. Rubbing one eye
q. Lip licking
r. A jutting chin
Walking gestures
a. Dejected walker
b. Burst of energy walker
c. Hands on hips walker
d. Strutter
e. Pre-occupied walker
Shaking hands
a. Ordinary handshake
b. Politicians handshake
Open Cluster Gestures
a. Open hands/palms
b. Shoulder shrugging
gesture
c. Unbuttoning coat
d. Thumbs up
e. O sign
f. V sign
Defensiveness
a. Arms crossed on chest
b. Sitting with a leg over
the arm chair, even if
person is smiling
c. Sitting, chair back
serving as a shield
Crossing Legs
a. Leg over leg
b. Figure four position
c. Woman in a leg over leg
position and kicks one of
her legs gently
Evaluation Gestures
a. Hand to cheek gestures
b. Critical evaluation
gesture
c. Head tilted
d. Stroking chin
e. Pinching the brige of the
nose
f. Touching or slightly
rubbing the nose
8. Use of eyeglasses
a. Dropping eyeglasses to
lower bridge of the nose
b. Cleaning eyeglasses
c. Put eyeglasses in the
mouth
d. Throw it on the table
9. Other common gestures
a. Hands on hips
b. Sitiing on the edge of the
chair
c. Arms spread while hands
grip the edge of the
table
d. Bite nails
e. Kick lightly
f. Deep breath and release
air slowly
g. Tsk-tsk sound
h. Clenched fist
i. Pointing index finger
j. Palm to back of neck
k. Kick at an imaginary
object
l. Steepling
m. Feet on desk
n. Leaning in vehicle
o. Clearing throat
p. Whew sound
q. Whistling
r. Jingling money in
pockets or tin can
s. Locked ankles and
clenched hands
t. Drumming on table
u. Blank stare
v. Hand to chest
w. Delicate balance of a
shoe on the toe of one
foot
x. Sitting with one leg
tucked under them
y. Rubbing of palms
3. Stress confidentiality
4. Change the question pattern
II.
FORMS:
1. Sarcastic or trying to belittle
your efforts
2. Being dismissive of your
questions or suggestions or
showing impatience
3. Domineering client
How to handle this:
a. Stay calm
b. Check your non-verbal
communication
c. Speak with confidence
d. Keep your tone of voice even
and low and speak slowly
e. Do not allow yourself to
respond to personal attacks or
verbal abuse
VI.
VII.
Chapter IX
Witness Interviewing
How to handle:
1. Use open questions
2. Explain the purpose of the
question to the client
3. Indirectly try to find out what
is wrong
4. Use series of closed (narrow)
questions if cooperating at
first but not in the later stage
V.
to Motivate Witnesses
Develop rapport
Use facilitators
Remember that witnesses are
governed by the same sets of
facilitators and inhibitors as
your clients
- mitigating circumstance:
complete deprivation of intelligence
in the commission of the act
Criteria in Determining the Existence
of Insanity:
a. Delusion test
b. Irresistible Impulse Test
c. Right and wrong test
Test Distinguishable Test in Plea of
Insanity
a. Test of Cognition complete deprivation of
intelligence
b. Test of volition total
deprivation of the freedom
of the will
Blockheads - person deficient in
understanding and mental
pachyderm.
Imbecile person marked by
mental deficiency
Insane one who has unsound mind
or suffers from mental disorder.
B. People with Suicidal
Tendencies
Classes of Suicide
a. Altruistic Suicide where a
person takes his life with the
idea that by doing so, he will
benefit others
b. Egoistic (egocentric) Suicide
where the suicide lacks
support group
c. Anomic Suicide the individual
feels lost or normless in
the face of situations where
the values of a society or
group are confused or break
down
C. Children
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2. Informal Counselling
The Form of Advice
A. General statement of relevant law
B. Applying the law and
jurisprudence directly to the
clients case
C. Present other alternatives to the
client
D. Problems in Giving Advice
1. Use of jargon
2. Problems for clients in
receiving and
understanding advice
3. Rehearsal and the lawyers
part
4. Remembering
5. Achieving Compliance
Counselling Difficult Clients and
How to Handle Them
1. Clients who are extremely
indecisive
2. A client who insists upon the
lawyers opinion
3. A client who has already reached
a decision
4. A client who is fond of appealing
hopeless cases
Counsequences
Rule 15.05. A lawyer when advising
his client, shall give a candid and
honest opinion on the merits and
probable results of the clients case
neither overstating nor understating the
prospects of the case.
Legal Consequence refers to the
legal status in which the client will be
placed should the client follow a
particular course of action
Non-legal Consequence refers to
the economic, social, and psychological
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