Susannah Foden and Gareth Ledsham explore considerations for practitioners working with vulnerable clients
Mental capacity is an area spoken about frequently among lawyers, with modern litigators becoming better acquainted with capacity issues in litigation and how to navigate them.
However, there is another demographic of society and therefore potentially your client base, who have capacity to litigate (or fluctuating capacity) but are also vulnerable more generally. These clients require a tailored approach in order to achieve the best results for them.
A person’s vulnerability may take many forms, any may be an unseen vulnerability. There are many different factors which could indicate your client might be vulnerable, for example:
- Being either elderly or very young.
- Physical disabilities.
- Illnes...
"In any case, it is important not to make assumptions and to establish a client’s preferred method(s) of communication at the outset of a matter and to make any colleagues or third parties"
