Lawyers are trained to break down a legal problem by analyzing a set of facts and finding the law to apply to those facts. They are usually very good at analysis and communicating their points, but they are not always so great at listening to a client and truly understanding the client's emotions, point of view, and motivations. It took me a long time to learn that clients don't just come to a lawyer for a technical solution to a legal problem, they also want to be heard and understood. It is therefore critical to really listen to the client and acknowledge the client's emotions and motivations in planning and proposing a legal strategy. A client's emotions can't be ignored as being irrelevant to the problem at hand; they are usually what brought the client into the office in the first place.