5(D)(ii). Interrogate own prejudices and listen to the client

Lawyers should be alert to their own stereotypes and assumptions and should regularly question and challenge them, as much as anyone else. Many residents in institutions are heavily medicated and have spent years in an institution which removes skills and sometimes hope. Lawyers should work with the client at the preparation stage of litigation: even clients without verbal communication can articulate their wishes and desires about the sort of life they want to lead. Many clients can explain the difficulties they face and what help they need. Becoming familiar with the client and his or her will and preferences is essential for successfully achieving strategic litigation objectives. If it is not feasible to personally do this work because of time or other resource constraints, a lawyer must work with someone who can. This may be a trusted friend or relative of the client, a social worker or counsellor, or an NGO employee or other form of support worker. But care must be taken to ensure that the client’s decisions are those which guide action, and not those of supporters.