The factors affecting the relationship of lawyer client

The lawyers do not know how to use many methods to attract the new clients excepting the famous lawyers and the large law firms, or even the clients do not know where to find a good lawy

THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE RELATIONSHIP OF

LAWYER-CLIENT

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

CLIENT

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

In International Business

By

Ms.: Dang Ngoc Thuy Trang

ID: MBA06039 International University - Vietnam National University HCMC

September 2014

Under the guidance and approval of the committee, and approved by all its

members, this thesis has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree

Acknowledge

The thesis is a meaningful result that I contribute to the legal services which are developing day by day Thus, I would like to show my deep gratitude to Dr Nguyen Van Phuong – my respectful advisor for guiding me during 6 months Thanks to all of

my classmates and my colleagues Mr Quang, Ms Tuyen who are always enthusiastic about supporting me to finish this thesis Also, thanks to my best friends Bao, Nguyen, Vy who help and encourage me all the time Last but not least, I would like

to appreciate my family for staying by my side and love me unconditionally

Plagiarism Statements

I would like to declare that, apart from the acknowledged references, this thesis either does not use language, ideas, or other original material from anyone; or has not been previously submitted to any other educational and research programs or institutions I fully understand that any writings in this thesis contradicted to the above statement will automatically lead to the rejection from the MBA program at the International University – Vietnam National University Hochiminh City

Copyright Statement

This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it

is understood to recognize that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author‟s prior consent

© Dang Ngoc Thuy Trang/MBA06039/2012-2014

Table of content

Acknowledge i

Plagiarism Statements ii

Copyright Statement iii

List of Tables vi

List of Figures vii

Abstracts viii

Chapter one - Introduction 1

1 Background 1

2 Problem statement 3

3 Objectives 4

4 Research question 4

Chapter two – Literature review 6

1 Professional service 6

2 Lawyer 7

3 Lawyer – Client relationship 8

4 Related research 9

4.1 Fee: 10

4.2 Independence: 11

4.3 Communication: 11

4.4 Marketing: The legal service 12

4.5 Trust: 12

4.6 Ethics: 12

4.7 Expertise: 12

4.8 Empathy: 13

4.9 Decisiveness: 13

Chapter three – Research methodology and Analysis 18

2 Data collection and analysis 19

2.1 Data collection 19

2.2 Data analysis 20

3 Result 20

3.1 Characteristics of the main factors 20

3.2 Main factors affecting the relationship between the clients and the lawyers 59

4 Discussion 65

Chapter four - Conclusion 71

References 73

List of Tables

Table 1 Related studies of the anticipating themes 14 Table 2 The comparision among the finding and the related research 50

List of Figures

Figure 1 The category of the legal service price 25

Figure 2 The interest of the private clients with Professionalism factor 56

Figure 3 The interest of the commecial clients with Professionalism factor 57

Figure 4 The interest of the lawyers with Professionalism factor 58

Figure 5 The real prerequisite of the clients 60

Figure 6: The model of decision making 65

Figure 7 The interest of the commercial clients 68

Figure 8 The interest of the private clients 69

Figure 9 The interest of the lawyers 70

qualitative method is used to identify the suitable factors affecting the relationship of client-lawyer in Ho Chi Minh city The Nvivo is also used to coding the data which is collected from both the lawyers and the clients in Ho Chi Minh city The research raises the new finding and the conceptual model, hopefully, those can be applicable for the lawyers and the clients

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Chapter one - Introduction

1 Background

As the society develops, there are more relationships between citizens and

citizens, citizens and authorities, organizations (such as companies, the associations and so on) and authorities, organizations and organizations These relationships sometimes conflict together, which affects the interests of each party

The trial lawyers who have the legal knowledge and experience in the activities of law defend the rights and the lawful interests of individuals, agencies and organizations most effectively at the Court Through litigation activities, lawyers not only contribute

to reducing the wrongfully convicted case, protecting the best interests of clients on the basis of the law provisions, but also improve the position of lawyers in society

In the field of legal advisers, the lawyers advise to ensure the best legal rights to their clients: consulting contracts, consulting for business or other legal services and so on All of the other activities of lawyers that contribute to a business environment,

promote development of economics and society, futhermore, lawyers also help to spread out the propaganda and popular legal knowledge when customers find a lawyer

to ask for protecting their legal rights and interests

Lawyers have many advantages but also face difficulties and challenges There are three main difficulties :

The first difficulty comes from the professional qualifications, professional skills

of lawyers and law organizations to solve the complex problems in the society The current economic relations that the research mentioned have complexly interwoven contradictions and if a lawyer is not qualified, he or she is very hard to provide the

The second difficulty is litigation system The system in the past is transiting while the one in the present has not formed yet The current legal proceeding has many general rules The right and obligations of lawyers are not stipulated

specifically and consistently There are not many opportunities for lawyers from investigation to prosecution and trial as well as participating in the legal relationship

is approximately 1/14,000, while the ratio in Singapore is 1/1,000, Thailand 1/1,526, Japan 1/1,546 Moreover, most lawyers in Vietnam concentrate on two major cities: Hanoi (1,630 lawyers) and Ho Chi Minh City (2,880 lawyers), the number of lawyers

in other provinces only 3-5 lawyers in every province (Nguyen, 2014) (Saigon

2 Problem statement

A good working relationship between the client and the lawyer will result in a better outcome, a smoother process, a lower fee and a satisfied client The lawyers rely on the clients and the clients need the lawyers A good relationship can bring many benefits for both of them

The author observed during the working process and recognizing the problem in many law firms The lawyers do not know how to use many methods to attract the new clients excepting the famous lawyers and the large law firms, or even the clients

do not know where to find a good lawyer The lawyer is a professional service (like architects, auditors, engineers, doctors), thus, the marketing may depend on factors such as skills, knowledge, experience, reputation, capacity, ethics, and creativity, which makes lawyer more specific (Crosby, Evans & Cowles, 1990) But lawyers do not use the right way to promote and convince the clients The clients are not also aware of the benefits and the roles of lawyers that can guarantee their rights and interests In a criminal case, some defendants refused the lawyers‟ help for thinking that the lawyers would make the case more complicated and increase their penalties, which wastes of money

When the client-lawyer relationship is formed, the lawyers are still embarrassed in maintaining the relationship and the clients‟ trust As a result of it, some clients drop, and other stay The reasons that the clients leave are the lack of the sympathy,

theprofessional skills and the communication as well as the reliability of the lawyers Trust is an important element but when the clients need the lawyers, their demand is that their lawyer can do right like their expectation

Besides, the lawyers truly want the clients to maintain their business, some of

professional ethical violation Through the observation, the lawyers are not good at managing and controlling as well as justifying the relationship with the clients This issue was wondered what factors affect not only the clients to hire the

lawyers to protect their rights and interests, but also the lawyers attract the clients Did the marketing practitioners not appreciate this relationship to have effective strategy

or is the professional competence of lawyers not reliable? Did the clients not trust in the lawyers or are they afraid of any factors else? This relationship is very important for both the lawyers and the clients to satisfy the goals that both of them aim to Owing to this research, the lawyers can solve many conflicts with the clients through discussion during the working process as well as clarify the case fact and satisfy the clients‟ expectation The issue was raised to evaluate the most important factor of the relationship as the lodestar the lawyers must consider before making decisions or solving any problems or conflicts with the clients

3 Objectives

The research discusses about the characteristics which not only create but also affect to the clients-lawyers relationship are neccessary to maintain Also, building up the model can help to easily improve the disadvantages and develop the advantages This research relies on the related research, Vietnamese law, the experience and the observation to build up theory conceptual model to identify the fators affect the

clients-lawyers relationship Moreover, it also gives the suggestion and improvement for the effective relationship through the experts‟ experience

4 Research question

The research aims to answer these questions below:

 What factors affect the client-lawyer relationship?

 What is the most important factor that the lawyer consider before solving problems to maintain the relationship as the lodestar and the clients rank the priority salience?

Chapter two – Literature review

1 Professional service

Professional services are occupations in the tertiary sector of the

economy requiring special training in the arts or sciences However, academic

analyses usually define the root term, profession, on the basis of multiple

characteristics, of which a distinct knowledge base is only one For instance,

sociologists generally distinguish professions from other occupations by their strong control over the application of their knowledge base via a range of institutions, such

as training and licensing (Abbott, 1991; Starbuck, 1992; Torres, 1991)

Some professional services require holding professional licenses such as

architects, auditors, engineers, doctors and lawyers Other professional services

involve providing specialist business support to businesses of all sizes and in all sectors; this can include tax advice, supporting a company with accounting, or

providing management advice.Many industry groups have been used for academic research when looking at professional services firms, making a clear definition hard to attain Some work has been directed at better defining professional service firms (PSF) In particular, Von Nordenflycht (2010) generated a taxonomy of professional service firms, defining four types:(1) Classic PSFs (e.g law and accounting firms) - characterised by a high knowledge intensity, a professionalised workforce, and low capital intensity (2) Professional campuses (e.g hospitals) - characterised by a high knowledge intensity, a professionalised workforce, and high capital intensity.(3) Neo-PSFs (e.g management consultants) - characterised by a high knowledge intensity and a low capital intensity.(4) Technology developers (e.g R&D firms, biotechs) - characterised by a high knowledge intensity and a high capital intensity

The marketing and selection of professional-service providers may depend on factors such as skills, knowledge, experience, reputation, capacity, ethics, and

creativity Large corporations may have a formal procurement process for engaging professional services Prices for services, even within the same field, may vary

greatly Professional-service providers may offer fixed rates for specific work, charge

in relation to the number or seniority of people engaged, or charge in relation to the success or profit generated by the project

2 Lawyer

According to the Office of Fair Trading, professional services are occupations in the tertiary sector of the economy requiring special training in the arts or sciences Some professional services require holding professional licenses such as architects,

auditors, engineers, doctors and lawyers

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as

an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law."

There are many differences between Lawyer, Attorney, Counsel and Solicitor in the world but the research is mentioned about the Vietnamese lawyers who are

qualified to practice law, perform legal services as requested by individuals, agencies and organizations (referred to as the client)

But the research also gives some definitions to make it clear The definition of lawyer expands to overlap definition of attorney A lawyer can not only provide advice and aid on legal matters but also conduct suits in court proceedings and

represents clients in various legal instances An attorney (attorney in-law) who

represents a client in court may act on the client‟s behalf and plead or defend a case in legal proceedings (Daicoff, 1997)

In UK, there is the distinct between barrister and solicitor definition A barrister performs trial work in high court and not deal directly with clients But a solicitor who speaks with clients and prepares documents may appear as an advocate in a lower court (Albert and Lewis, 1995) In some countries, it is not necessary to study in the law school to become an attorney, which is totally different from Vietnam A person wants to be a lawyer has to graduate from the law school and the course of Ministry

of Justice After practicing law for a while, he or she must qualify the lawyer test of the Bar Association, hence, there is only one lawyer definition It means a lawyer in Vietnam can do from the legal service to the proceedings

3 Lawyer – Client relationship

“The lawyer-client relationship is a formally recognized legal relationship that enjoys special protection under the law A lawyer, along with a doctor, spouse and priest, are one of the few people who cannot be obligated to testify or reveal

information when that information would incriminate another A lawyer also has certain special obligations to a client, and a lawyer's failure to fulfill those obligations can result in penalties including monetary fines, a malpractice verdict, and/or loss of the lawyer's license to practice law” (Peter Zhu, 2012)

When Is a Lawyer-Client Relationship Formed?

Lawyer-client relationship is formed when a client has reason to believe that the lawyer is representing the client's legal interests This "reason" can be express or implied Lawyer-client relationship can obviously be formed when a client pays a retainer and/or signs a contract with a lawyer that the lawyer will represent them or when the court send the announcement of inviting a designated lawyer that he or she agrees as well in the criminal cases The key question in determining whether the

relationship exists is the client reasonably believes the lawyer is representing his interests and/or providing him with legal guidance (Cleary, 2000)

4 Related research

As the research mentioned before, there are not many studies about the

relationship between client-lawyer However, the research based on some reliable studies of Hilton and Migdal (2005), Kritzer (1984), Elbers, Wees, Akkermans, Cuijpers and Bruinvels (2012)

According to Hilton and Migdal (2005), they researched the factors influence client dependency upon lawyers and can be attributed to the environment, the client, the lawyer, or the interaction within the relationship Accordingly, each of them were identified to find out some specific factors can influence the commercial and private clients After analysis, the authors conducted 4 strategies that lawyers can develop within the commercial and the private clients: Relationship Specific Investments, Development of Client Specific Relationship, Recognition of Client Expertise and Social Bonding The study only mentioned about the impact toward the clients, did not focus on the influence toward the lawyers too much

Kritzer (1984) identified 3 dimensions of the relationship: Professionalism,

Business and Social The author clarified that professionalism dimension is control interaction, define nature of problem, define nature of the task to be done and will be done as well as trust Also, business dimension is income or fee factor The

dimensions that the author described are conceptual distinct and they are not

independent of the others Accordingly, the author ranked the salience of the

dimensions as business first, professional second and social third based on the clients‟ view when a client chose a lawyer but from the lawyers‟ opinion, the ranking would

be different However, the study did not determine the factors creating each

dimension clearly

Unlike those 2 studies, Elbers et al (2012) argued that the positive lawyer

characteristics derived from: communication, expertise, decisiveness, empathy and independence Those characteristics are what the personal injury victims need from their lawyers can improve their well-being during the claims settlement process The limitation of this study is not to discuss about the necessary characteristics of a

positive lawyer toward a defendant or a plaintiff, furthermore, the scope is only in the criminal case The purpose of the study is to empirically investigate the lawyer-client relationship from the client‟s perspective, specifically clients‟ preferences and

experiences regarding their lawyers

Therefore, this research will base on those previous studies to examine the factors, collect the information and build up the conceptual model is suitable for the lawyers

in Ho Chi Minh city Anticipating a factor consist of small items which are

difficulties, challenges, or even advantages of lawyers and clients, enables to need more related research for each of them Basing on the inductive thematic analysis and grounded theory style, the author hopes the small items are potential themes as the problems that can happen with the relationship between clients and lawyers They may be fee, communication, independence, trust, ethics, marketing, decisiveness, expertise… may be necessary for this special relationship But the foreseen

characteristics need examing

4.1 Fee: Kritzer (1984) also determined in analysing the business dimension that

fee is considered initially as a client chooses a lawyer Hence, a lawyer who is to receive a fee based on a standard free schedule need not worry about how to calculate the fee or how to justify the fee to the client, likewise, clients need not worry about

the meter running if they should decide to raise a particular issue or question with their lawyer Actually, there are 3 types of fee arrangement: (1) a lawyer is paid a fixed hourly rate or specified sum bases on the number of hours worked, but only if successful, (2) a lawyer charges a flat or hourly fee, with a bonus accuring to he or she if he or she is successful, or (3) a lawyer is paid only a percentage of any recovery obtained for the client (Shajnfeld, 2009)

4.2 Independence: The lawyers must be independent with the corporation,

politics, and clients in order to perform properly their political roles as the guardians

of individual rights, the defenders of the legal framework, and the balance wheel of society (Gordon, 1988) The author also raised the types of independence as well as some social factors affecting independence Besides, Elbers et al (2012) consider the independence was an important problem, especially in the case that „clients may sometimes suspect that lawyers recommend a particular course of action because they are friends with the opposing attorney, afraid to take a case to court, afraid of hurting their own relationship with the opposing client, or seeking to aggrandize their own reputation‟ (Sternlight & Robbennolt, 2008, pp 500–501) or the lawyer‟s attitude is independent with the client‟s insurance company

4.3 Communication: Elbers et al (2012) clarified the important role of the

communication enabling to provide the information Many communication factors influenced the client‟s perception of his/her lawyer and the relationship between client and lawyer were raised with the communication skills and solutions in order to be helpful for the lawyer to enter into a friendly relationship with the client A client is unique, each lawyer-client relationship is also unique Communication is merely the

method for them to achieve a desired legal result.(Smith and Nester, 1977)

4.4 Marketing: The legal service is a special service, hence, its marketing is

also different from the others Lackey and Minta (2012) mentioned about the way that lawyer use marketing on social media: Tweeting, Facebook and Blogging can bring the potential benefits in not only marketing but also networking and litigation

resource In despite of it, the authors determined that the lawyers should be careful about the risk of social media Besides, the lawyers also can use another types of internet marketing for their law firms: paid per click (PPC), video marketing, viral marketing, email marketing, forum marketing, article marketing and SMS marketing

(Hussain, Yaakub, Rahman, Zainol and Mujani, 2010)

4.5 Trust: Trust is the essential part of human relationships, is hard to regain

once it is lost especially lawyer-client relationship Burt (1981) emphasized how

important the trust plays role via the lawyer and client

4.6 Ethics: Robbennolt and Sternlight (2013) revealed that the nature of legal

practice means that the lawyers face a set of difficult challenges It is difficult to recognize some psychological phenomena, though there are many complex and

ambiguous ethical and standards, agency relationships, position or feelings of relative status and power, and cues or pressure from others They found out the reason and recommendation for lawyers in order to notice and avoid ethical issues in the first instance The research also use another study to clarify the question what kind of

ethics large corporate clients want of their lawyers (Whelan, 2012)

4.7 Expertise: The clients appreciate their lawyers working out effectively

owing to the legal knowledge Of course, they do not expect their lawyers for making

“mess” or any careless mistakes (Elbers et al., 2012) According to Felthouse (2011),

a lawyer must be a person who can have competence to stand trial required by the

supreme court or the states

4.8 Empathy: Empathy refers to the various experiences of clients as to whether

they felt respected and treated with dignity They used words such as compassionate, understanding, interested, involved, human, accessible, personal, friendly, and nice They indicated that they appreciated the lawyer asking how they felt, showing

genuine interest, always being there for them, being able to put their mind at rest, and realizing how the injury hampered them in doing the things they value in life

Empathy also involved being acknowledged by the lawyer and being understood and taken seriously The need for empathy could change during claims settlement (Elbers

et al., 2012)

4.9 Decisiveness: Clients in the sample were burdened by feelings that it was

left up to them to ensure that their lawyer got on with his work (Elbers et al., 2012) Decisiveness had not previously been discussed as an important characteristic, which

is remarkable, given that an important frustration is that the claims settlement process takes too long Lack of decisiveness caused their case to stagnate for unacceptably long periods of time The lawyer should adopt a proactive approach in order to avoid

or prevent litigation before it araises

Table 1 Related studies of the anticipating themes

- Fee is considered initially as a client chooses a lawyer The clients think lawyers work for the business

- There are 3 types of fee arrangement, but

in Vietnam, the lawyers also use another type

Independence - Robert

W.Gordon (1988)

- Nieke A.Elbers, Kiliaan A.P.C.van Wees, Arno J.Akkermans, Pim Cuijpers, David J.Bruinvels (2012)

- The lawyers must be independent with the coporation, politics, and clients

- The author also raised the types of independence as well as some social factors affecting independence

- The independence was an important problem, in many cases, the lawyers can be hurt their own relationships

Communication - Nieke A.Elbers, - The important role of the communication

Kiliaan A.P.C.van Wees, Arno J.Akkermans, Pim Cuijpers, David J.Bruinvels (2012)

- Allen E.Smith &

Patrick Nester

(1977)

enabling to provide the information for the lawyer to enter into a friendly relationship with the client

- Communication is merely the method for them to achieve a desired legal result

Marketing - Michael E

Lackey Jr (2012)

- Wan Mohd Hirwani Wan Hussain, Noor Inayah Yaakub, Mohd Nizam Ab Rahman, Zinatul Ashiqin Zainol and Wan Kamal Mujani (2010)

- The lawyer using marketing on social media: Tweeting, Facebook and Blogging can bring the potential benefits

- The lawyers should be careful about the risk of social media

- The lawyers also can use another types of internet marketing for their law firms: paid per click (PPC), video marketing, viral marketing, email marketing, forum marketing, article marketing and SMS marketing

Trust - Robert A.Burt

- It found out the reason and recommendation for lawyers in order to notice and avoid ethical issues in the first instance though it is difficult to recognize some complex psychological phenomena,

- It clarified the question what kind of ethics large corporate clients want of their lawyers

Expertise - Nieke A.Elbers,

Kiliaan A.P.C.van Wees, Arno J.Akkermans, Pim Cuijpers, David J.Bruinvels (2012)

- Alan R.Felthouse, MD

(2011)

- The clients appreciate their lawyers working out effectively owing to the legal knowledge Of course, they do not expect their lawyers for making “mess” or any careless mistakes

- A lawyer must be a person who can have competence to stand trial required by the supreme court or the states

Decisiveness - Nieke A.Elbers, - Lack of decisiveness caused their

Kiliaan A.P.C.van Wees, Arno J.Akkermans, Pim Cuijpers, David J.Bruinvels (2012)

case to stagnate for unacceptably long periods of time The lawyer should adopt a proactive approach in order to avoid or prevent litigation before it araises

Sympathy - Nieke A.Elbers,

Kiliaan A.P.C.van Wees, Arno J.Akkermans, Pim Cuijpers, David J.Bruinvels (2012)

- Empathy refers to the various experiences

of clients as to whether they felt respected and treated with dignity Empathy also involved being acknowledged by the lawyer and being understood and taken seriously

- The need for empathy could change during claims settlement

Chapter three – Research methodology and Analysis

1 Research design

The research will approach the relationship of client-lawyer in Ho Chi Minh city

to have a general view of this professional service situation Therefore, the research concentrates on 2 types of participants: lawyers and clients will use the in-depth interview method to clarify the factors based on many previous journals There are not many papers that mention about this problem, so the research must combine the previous studies (Herbert M.Kritzer, 1984; Toni Hilton & Stephen Migdal, 2005) using the qualitative method to examine the potential factors affecting the relationship

of client-lawyer From each factor, the research will investigate the impact of that factor which plays the important role as the lodestar of lawyers

To implement the idea, the qualitative research method is selected The unstructured and semi-unstructured forms of inquiry are used to reduce the problems and are better suited to the analysis The questions will be posed for observation and in-depth

interviews through face-to-face with lawyers and clients in order to make it clear because there are several lawyers who never work with the clients in the reality

instead of doing another jobs although they are qualified, hence, it is impossible to interview via email or telephone instead of vis-à-vis with the lawyers The interview

is accomplished with 10-15 lawyers who have over 2-work-experience-years and

15-20 clients who are commercial and private used to work with lawyers It enables to approach the experts‟ experience and prediction as well as the clients‟ attitude, and have the information of conflicts solution Owing to this method, their “stories” are known as the valid information

2 Data collection and analysis

2.1 Data collection

The research based on the inductive thematic analysis and grounded theory have the process insist of (1) reading through textual data, (2) identifying themes in the data, (3) coding those themes, and (4) interpreting the structure and content of the themes After interview of the participants and observation, the process entails

systematically reviewing the unit of the text as they are coded, creating the emergent codes for the unit, and writing the memos to expand on the related codes and the relationship between codes During that process, the research will also follow Toni Hilton and Stephen Migdal (2005) and Herbert M.Kritzer (1984) to extract the

information and collect the data Each theme may be a small item (difficulty, problem

or even advantage) that creates a factor The research hopefully can figure out new characteristics as well as potential factors The conceptual model is built up after data collection and analysis

The semi-structured interviews were used to conduct in person or via using when this was not possible Interviews took about 30 minutes for each participant and audio was recorded and transcribed Interviews involved open-ended questions about the relationship of client and lawyer Hence, the data are only collected from the

participants who are not pleasure to cooperate with the interviewer or who answer perfunctorily It aims to prevent from the bias datum

The research constructs 17 questions of the factors affecting the relationship of client-lawyer for the questionnaire, however, during the interview process all

participants mentioned a newly same point, which increases more 2-3 questions to clarify that new one

2.2 Data analysis

Transcripts were analysed by NVIVO to identify major themes related to

informants‟ views on the relationship between clients and lawyers The research approached the transcripts using concept-driving coding, where the research created a coding scheme which followed topics outlined by the interview schedule, derived from the best practice in data-driven coding where topics were allowed to emerge from reading the data, and these were added to the coding framework

participants which are the experts, so the data is reliable, especially, the research found out one new theme which is different from many previous studies

3.1 Characteristics of the main factors

3.1.1 Theme 1 - Fee

Lawyers:

According to the interviews, the fee of legal service in Ho Chi Minh city was set based on “the complexity and simplicity of the case, the time lawyer spending for a case, number of lawyer take part in a case, expected cost to solve a case”, as the lawyer 10 who works in VPbank said, it can be called service quality of legal service

So that is the reason the price is incredibly as the lawyer 9 works in QL law firm “The

price of the legal service is emotional” The price is charged depends on each case and each client As the criminal cases, standard cost is 120,000VND/ hour, should not be over And it is the exception Toward foreign investors, they also prepared budget to comply law, it is easy to set price According to company size, there is another way to charge (Kalb, 1993) Lawyers should have charismatic appeal fee for the small

companies If the consulting case is calculated a package, lawyer partner is paid

$250/hour, paralegal associate and junior lawyer are paid $120-180/ hour The fee is right and very competitive, there are some other law firms can charge $350/hour for senior lawyer such as Mc Kenzie and possibly thousands of dollars/hour Kalb (1993) declared that the price was set according to the following criteria: (1) parity with local competition; (2) status, whereby more experienced and famous lawyers charge higher price; (3) education status; (4) supply and demand, with the lawyers having expertise in unique specialities charging more for their services

According to the informants, the fee is set by hour or by full package The

charging by hour way is suitable for the consultative case, however, in the

proceedings case, the foreigners want the explicitness of the time that the lawyers spend for the case, so the lawyer in Vietnam represent for personal work not based on time sheet which is only for the large companies, the foreigner people and the foreign companies, because the administrative cases are often prolonged, so the time sheet is disadvantage, such as the proceedings cases in the court which is postponed or

canceled because of administrative procedures can extend, then the fee clients must pay will increase This charging by hour way is also divided into many types which is belong to the clients‟ financial ability: (1) by basic fee plus the percent if they are successful, but in terms of perspective, the law does not allow the lawyers to show the

which will make people think he aims to guarantee results (the Lawyer 4 in Saigon Asian law firm, the lawyer 1 – the lecturer, the lawyer 10, the lawyer 6); (2) by the percentage of the recovery obtained for the clients (the lawyer 10 in VPbank, the lawyer 1 – the lecturer); (3) by the hour but not go over certain amount of hours negotiated by all parties involved, which is the combination of the charge by hour and

by full package also a new point compared to the previous studies (the Lawyer 3 in YKVN); (4) from 120,000VND/hour to 210,000VND/hour with the legal aid fee, depending on consultant or compiling the instrument that prices are given by

government (the Lawyer 7 in the Legal Aid Center, the lawyer 4 in Saigon Asean) The lawyers can charge by full package because lawyers in Vietnam set price based on not time sheet but the case results, so prolonging cases is detrimental to both lawyers and clients Lawyers should not do so intentionally In the other countries, if the case is prolonged unreasonably, the clients do not agree to pay for their lawyers on the time sheet given The criminal cases are the exception that the lawyers will be given by the goverment

By hour charge way, some companies like Rouse company the Lawyer 5 works in have a software to record the work, then count the hours after the process ends But this method is unreasonable because sometimes the work can be coincided in a team Hence, the full package charge was only set when it is suitable to the must-do

forecasted work

Clients:

All clients who were interviewed have the same opinion The private clients said that the price of legal service in Ho Chi Minh city was resonable, and the commecial clients did not The Commercial clients 3 - Vietphuong corporation mentioned “The

fee is quite high The fee made up 50% of required debt‟s customers Maybe because those customers are individual The fee in Ho Chi Minh city is higher than in Binh Dinh or Hue Lawyers‟ fee in Binh Dinh or Hue make up only 30% of total required debt So i always consider what issues need lawyers solve.”

Apparently, there is no many fee policies to encourage the companies cooperate with the lawyers Hence, the companies, especially the small companies, rarely need the lawyers at the beginning of the case, which only find the lawyer when the risk happens Finally, the total fee that the companies must pay for the legal service to remedy is higher than for the companies must pay to avoid risks at the beginning, this

is what the Commercial client 5 – Thien Bang construction company admitted

However, the large companies realize the lawyer‟s role for their benefits, they can agree the price until it is reasonable for them The large foreign companies often prepare the cost for the legal service so that their business goes smoothly and avoid the risk

The private clients who were interviewed also need the lawyers to remedy the damages The clients always think that it wastes of the money when the clients can do the procedures or solve the issues by themselves But when the damages happen will

be particularly serious and hardly remedied, then, the price increases as well as the clients spend long time until the problems are solved However, the price for the private clients is friendly as the private client 4 said because most of the private clients know the lawyers from the acquaintance The lawyers balance the elements to give reasonable fee for the private clients to maintain the relationship (Darken,

Darken & Kiser, 1981), hopefully, the private clients can have the opportunity to use the legal service‟s quality and introduce to the others The types of relationships that

pricing of goods where high trust can reduce the transactions costs typically viewed as irreducible through contracts (Uzzi & Lancaster, 2004)

The foreign clients, in addition to elements of professional issues, they also care about is the remuneration of services Along with the same professional

qualifications, the foreign clients will choose the lawyer or law firm with low price The foreign clients often regard the fee as a serious, frankly and fairly problem Therefore, all lawyers should calculate the cost for the foreign clients to accept or not accept

Therefore, this research also categorises the legal service price in Ho Chi Minh city

Source: Data Figure 1 The category of the legal service price

3.1.2 Theme 2 - Marketing

Lawyers:

The lawyers claimed the main marketing channel that they used is word-of-mouth (from friends, old clients, CEOs of the companies, the other acquaintances and so on) (Kalb, 1993) In addition, lawyers work must be effective to create the prestige which

By the percentage of the recovery obtained for the clients

By the hour but not go over certain amount of hours negotiated by all

parties

By full package charge

By full package charge given by the lawyers

By full package charge that the government pays for the criminal

cases

that the lawyers needn‟t seek the clients, the clients will find the lawyers by their own They believed that the marketing strategy of a law firm must be different than that of

a fast moving consumer good company, because the law firm is a professional

service Not only the small law firms but also the large law firms try to create the reputation from their competence, clients‟ trust, and social relationships (Kalb, 1993),

“To brand for firms, lawyers need to build a brand for themselves first”, the Lawyer 3

in YKVN declared

Many lawyers use marketing channels differently from the others as well Basing

on the data of the infomants, there are two types: the first type is the large law firm, to attract commercial clients, they will send the brochure of the firm, or celebrate the workshops, conferences to invite visitors They can host the workshop or the

conference, but the agencies or the other firms will communicate, through which they will exchange their experiences with each other They also use the international awards “Our firm use the good channel is the international awards Our firm brand is published international law magazines which is the best reliable source for the clients

to guarantee the quality” or they had their own marketing department in Vietnam or in foreign countries to do it internationally Besides, they exploit other channels such as Associations (Amcham of American companies) for advertisement as the Lawyer 3 in YKVN did Or they can promote like the Rouse the Lawyer 5 stated that there are some exceptions when the Commercial Chamber of the embassy introduce the

companies to the reliably large law firms

Secondly, law offices (small law firms) will hold training sessions for the

introduction of laws to workers, thereby it can build the lawyer‟s image with the workers, from which the workers will remember when having legal issues, they will

free consultation in order to attract the clients They should have a website to

introduce about their offices Lawyers who are more famous do it by theirselves such

as newspaper article writing on Dan Luat, Law Soft, Phap Luat and Tuoi Tre

newspaper, free communication, collaboration with judicial agencies of many districts

to promote law followed theme, if resolved by briefly short consultation for free short, the reputation greatly increased, or teaching in the universities or judicial academy is also a way to promote the image as the Lawyer 4 in Saigon Asean law firm said They also made the personal topic or company topic to introduce the law, promote through the press or on the radio, television as legal advice and answer questions (Story of everyone)

Unlike many industries, lawyers did not use Facebook or Twitter, Yahoo because

it is not professional and safe politically, they have inciting or indecent content The form of SMS or Email is cheaper so a lawyer should not use Those ways which will detract from the lawyers‟ image as they are too economical and disturbing the people The advertisement will make people think wrong about the lawyers People will disgust, dislike and then not choose those lawyers anymore The lawyer 10 in VPbank asserted that the lawyer is like the doctor Nobody will trust in a doctor if he appears too much on the unprofessional advertisement Clients only come when he is a good doctor

Hence, Darken et al (1981) suggested the suitable strategies for the law firms are that the types of educational programs are possible at both the individual and local bar association levels, legal service columns in newspaper or use TV and radio time slots are also help

Clients:

The lawyer does not find clients but clients find the lawyer Clients have the right

to choose a lawyer or legal consultant company that they want and trust Relying on the informants, the research summarizes that the clients can also choose a lawyer because of the personal relationship as acquaintances, through the introduction and so

on Clients come to lawyers through the channels, such as prestige, knowledge and expertise of newspaper publishing, lectures at the scientific Conference, introduction

of other clients, patrons, good personal relationships, personal contact, organization, contests or development market

After collecting the data, the author recognizes that the Vietnam clients have a winner mentality At the start of each case, they find ways to win even finding a good lawyer to advice Besides, the Vietnam clients also get formalism, as the companies usually offer a good lawyer to advise in the business and production activities, to negotiate and conclude the contract of the company Knowing this psychology is the advantage to attract the Vietnam clients by using flexibly the skills and capacity The foreign clients may be individuals or businesses, companies, foreign

organizations established and operating in the territory of Vietnam The foreign clients often have the legal knowledge, professional qualifications, capacity of

management and organizational mind So their requirements are usually clear and coherent Unlike Vietnam clients, they rarely require lawyers advising them things contrary to law, they really respect for the lawyer‟s reputation So, when working with them, a lawyer must show that he understands the laws of Vietnam, have the prestige and the experience in the protection of the interests of the client in accordance with the laws of Vietnam The foreign clients will not be satisfied, if the lawyer works through his personal experience or his acquaintance to lobby After coding, the

research recommends that the lawyers may conduct the following activities to attract the foreign clients:

 Marketing: is a method commonly used in the national market economy The agencies and individuals in the market economy are usually busy with work without a deep understanding other areas than theirs, so to dominate the market a lawyer needs marketing through the channels such as workshop, introduce his firm in the brochure

or the leaflet or in-home counseling to create the relationship with the clients, or greet the clients is an important way to create the relationship, or the press, the

conferences, advertising Advertisements can be expected to play an increasingly important but only partial role The lawyers should consider the right of the

consumers to necessary information (Smith & Meyer, 1980)

 Prestige: is a mean of the most precious marketing and the important factor for clients when they choose lawyers Creating a good reputation of a lawyer has been a fortune A famous law firm and a reputable lawyer will certainly attract to the best clients and have the opportunity to participate in the largest transactions Thereby the lawyers will accumulate more experience and attract to more clients (Kalb, 1993)

 Honesty: the lawyers should never set the type of trading relationship with clients, must build relationships with clients on the basis of realistic, collaborative, sustainable and mutually beneficial The clients have to know that the lawyers or the law firms are doing serious and decent, will not do to get the money targets That reinforces the credibility, creates clients faith and maintains a connection to the

regular clients (Humbach, 1999)

 Patience: The lawyers do not ever show impatience The relationship of

clients- lawyer must be formed step by step The Private client 4 is a retired teacher