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Meeting the Client


Prior to this first day meeting my Health Advocacy Clinic (“HAC”) client, the only experience I had with client interviewing was at my graduate assistantship. However, my interactions in those interviews was limited since my supervisor was the lead investigator role. That said, I was finally able to take the “lead” when interviewing my HAC client, and I was truly looking forward to the experience.


Before meeting my HAC client, I did a couple things to prepare. One, I made a script of main discussion points that I wanted to be sure to bring up during the interview.  Two, I worked to memorize the first 20-30 seconds of my script so that my interview would have a “natural flow.” This would allow me to quickly build rapport with my client.

The day finally came to meet my client and my nerves were getting the best of me in anticipation of his arrival. Ironically, my client had to cancel the meeting and rescheduled for the following week, so I used the additional time to continue preparation. On “Take #2” of meeting my client, I took the “lead” so that I could have as much experience interviewing my client as possible. At one of our HAC classes, the HAC director explained how critical and valuable it is to meet with clients. Thus, she allowed me to take the “lead” during the interview to ensure I learned from the opportunity.  

The interview took around 20-25 minutes to complete and all went well. I stuck to my script and obtained the information I sought to gather. I admit that I started off speaking rather quickly, in part due to my nerves. I also didn't want to keep my client longer than needed. Yet, even if our meeting was brief, I was grateful to have experienced my client’s lively and genuine personality. Additionally, my client appeared comfortable discussing his current issues and challenges. This new information will be very useful to his case, so I truly appreciated him sharing such sensitive and private details.

As the meeting wrapped up, I walked my client out and thanked him for his time. My client responded by thanking me and complimenting me on my “slick hair style.” I interpreted this to be “an approval” of having me as his student-attorney. Subsequently, I knew that I had accomplished my goal of building rapport with him and I look forward to our next meeting. 




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