Mirroring society, however, the client-lawyer relationship hasevolved over the past quarter century. Economic and societal shiftshave resulted in both parties becoming increasingly demanding.Trust, loyalty and longevity are being tested more frequently thanever before.

With the goal of improving the time-honored ties between thebusiness and legal communities, here are five resolutions for 2003for legal service providers and those that retain them:

Know Your Client. Building trust throughunderstanding sounds like common sense, but sometimes clients (orwould-be clients) are taken for granted. Any sign that an attorneyis not intimately familiar with those he is wooing or serving canend a relationship before it starts or cripple an existing one.This is important in our mobile society where personnel turnover atboth law firms and client companies presents unique challenges toclient retention.