My lawyer is Empathetic, is yours?
We have all heard it at least once – Lawyers lack Empathy.
As a Lawyer working in the area of Superannuation, TPD and Life Insurance, my colleagues and I help individuals access their total and permanent disablement benefits/ income protection benefits, as a result injury or illness, that has caused them to stop working.
There I was, engulfed in an area of law that fights for people who have lost their livelihood, are severely injured, estranged and suffering from mental illness.
Empathy – was all I could hear ringing in my ears as I would listen to how a client lost so much.
Empathy – offers that helping hand, that shimmer of light in the dark, that feeling that someone cares.
Empathise – is all we can do for our clients to show them that We do care about their story, their lives, their claim and their future.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines Empathy as; the ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation.
So how do we as Lawyers apply Empathy to practice? It’s simple – you do what you can to see the world through the eyes of your client… You listen…You imagine yourself in an alternate reality, that is your clients…
By applying Empathy to your work ethic and everyday practice, you will no doubt be fully equipped to be an incomparable Lawyer for your client.
The ripple effect of this will help re-shape the opinion of many that Lawyers lack Empathy – says the client who doesn’t feel heard or appreciated to My Lawyer is Empathetic – says client who felt heard, cared for and in turn trusted their Lawyer – what an impact!
– have Empathy.
By Ashli Joudo