Random thought as I reach the anniversary of three years as an appellate lawyer. The #1 complaint I hear from clients about their experience with trial lawyers (not those coming from Bottos Law Group - we make communication a priority) is lack of communication.

Clients routinely express how they didn& #39;t understand what was happening to them, and why lawyers were doing what they were doing. They also complained about how often their lawyers did not return their calls.

I& #39;ve made it a priority in my own practice to remind myself (regularly) that most clients don& #39;t know how things work in the courts & need to have it explained regularly. Whatever step I take is prefaced by a conversation w/ the client about what I& #39;m doing & why.

I don& #39;t think this is anything revolutionary or special. But when I speak to a client (like I did yesterday) who is overwhelmed with gratitude about something this basic - not the first time - it reminds me that too many lawyers have forgotten or never learned this lesson.