Take home message
Defendant clients are most satisfied with lawyers who they feel listened to their opinions, were objective and accurate when giving legal advice, were concerned with their needs, and treated them with respect.
These authors investigated what made certain criminal defendants more satisfied with their lawyers than others. Specifically, they investigated whether 'procedurally fair' treatment by the lawyer increased satisfaction, drawing on other work which suggests defendants so treated are both more contented and more likely to comply with the law in the future.
They defined 'procedurally fair' treatment as a combination of four factors - participation (the lawyer asks the client's opinion on decisions), objectivity (the lawyer reliably and accurately reports the law to the client), concern for their needs (the lawyer is honest with the client and takes account of their desires), and treatment with dignity and respect (the lawyer is polite). Importantly, these four factors were measured from the client's perspective: that is, a lawyer's actual legal knowledge was not assessed, but their client's perception of its accuracy was.
Their analysis shows that procedurally fair treatment increases client satisfaction - even after a large number of other factors were controlled such as client contact and the sentence the defendant received. Procedurally fair treatment, as defined by the four characteristics above, continued to matter over and above these other factors, and indeed proved to be substantially more important in comparison.
The authors did also find significantly higher levels of satisfaction among clients of lawyers who called their clients frequently, visited them in detention, and contacted them early in the case, among other things.
The authors caution there are some differences between the Dutch and United States criminal justice systems. The Netherlands provides counsel through flat-fee payments to private attorneys rather than public defenders. Defendants may request a particular lawyer. Plea bargaining is not permitted for prison sentences, and is more infrequent generally. The Netherlands also has an inquisitorial system of justice, and no involvement of laypeople as jurors.
Defendant clients are most satisfied with lawyers who they feel listened to their opinions, were objective and accurate when giving legal advice, were concerned with their needs, and treated them with respect.
- Full report: E. Raaijmakers, J. W. de Keyser, P. Nieuwbeerta and A. J. E. Dirkzwager, 2015. “Criminal Defendants' Satisfaction with Lawyers: Perceptions of Procedural Fairness and Effort of the Lawyer.” Psychology, Crime & Law, vol.21/2, pp.186-201.
- Link: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1068316X.2014.951646#.VLas76RTHos
- Sample: 1,479 Dutch defendants in 2010-11.
These authors investigated what made certain criminal defendants more satisfied with their lawyers than others. Specifically, they investigated whether 'procedurally fair' treatment by the lawyer increased satisfaction, drawing on other work which suggests defendants so treated are both more contented and more likely to comply with the law in the future.
They defined 'procedurally fair' treatment as a combination of four factors - participation (the lawyer asks the client's opinion on decisions), objectivity (the lawyer reliably and accurately reports the law to the client), concern for their needs (the lawyer is honest with the client and takes account of their desires), and treatment with dignity and respect (the lawyer is polite). Importantly, these four factors were measured from the client's perspective: that is, a lawyer's actual legal knowledge was not assessed, but their client's perception of its accuracy was.
Their analysis shows that procedurally fair treatment increases client satisfaction - even after a large number of other factors were controlled such as client contact and the sentence the defendant received. Procedurally fair treatment, as defined by the four characteristics above, continued to matter over and above these other factors, and indeed proved to be substantially more important in comparison.
The authors did also find significantly higher levels of satisfaction among clients of lawyers who called their clients frequently, visited them in detention, and contacted them early in the case, among other things.
The authors caution there are some differences between the Dutch and United States criminal justice systems. The Netherlands provides counsel through flat-fee payments to private attorneys rather than public defenders. Defendants may request a particular lawyer. Plea bargaining is not permitted for prison sentences, and is more infrequent generally. The Netherlands also has an inquisitorial system of justice, and no involvement of laypeople as jurors.
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