Most complaints come down to communication and managing client expectations. Choose to ignore this essential skill at your peril. Learn practical strategies for setting realistic expectations, handling difficult conversations, and maintaining trust – an essential skill for every litigation lawyer navigating client relationships.
Thursday, 26 February 2026
Early Bird Discount ends 19 Dec 2025
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD unit in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Professional Skills
1.00pm to 2.00pm Managing Client Expectations
- Who is the client and whose expectations are you managing?
- First impressions: how to be honest, realistic, and still get the business
- Does what you’re doing match what your client thinks you’re doing?
- How to break bad news without overly discouraging the client
- Handling client disappointment and over-enthusiasm
- War stories and real-world examples
Presented by Glenn Fredericks, Barrister. State Chambers
Chair:
Darrell Kake, Partner, Longton Blackwell
Presenters
Darrell Kake, Partner, Longton BlackwellDarrell is a partner at Longton Legal and has conducted court proceedings in NSW, QLD, VIC and the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea. Darrell is a NSW Law Society accredited specialist in commercial litigation and a member of the NSW Law Society’s Specialist Accreditation Commercial Litigation Advisory Committee. Before his return to NSW, Darrell was previously the equivalent in Queensland. Darrell is an adjunct lecturer in the College of Law’s specialist Masters of Law (LLM) in Commercial Litigation and was an officer in the Australian Army Reserve for over 20 years. Darrell has prepared many affidavits. He secretly believes that oral evidence is best as it most accurately reflects the observations of witnesses, however considers that careful drafting can significantly improve the quality of affidavit evidence.
Glenn Fredericks, Barrister. State Chambers
Glenn is a barrister in State Chambers and is an experienced corporate and employment lawyer. He appears in many jurisdictions including the Supreme Court of NSW, the Federal Court, the Federal Circuit and Family Court, the Fair Work Commission and NCAT. He has published a number of articles on legal topics and regularly presents at seminars. Glenn is listed in the Doyle’s Guide as Recommended Leading Employment Law Junior Counsel. Glenn was with Freehills for 10 years (including 7 years as a partner) and worked with clients in a variety of industries on significant employment and workplace relations matters, as well as dealing with corporate issues. Before coming to the Bar, Glenn was a senior lawyer with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for 8 years, where he led both legal and HR teams. Glenn gained significant ‘hands-on’ experience in workplace relations in his early career at the NSW Nurses’ Association.
This seminar is part of a series
Essential Litigation Skills Series
Need to update your litigation skills? Attend one or all 3 across lunch and navigate the challenges in your litigation practice. Empower yourself to manage disputes strategically and uphold professional standards under pressure. From navigating modern litigation practice through to AI capabilities, managing client exceptions or mastering procedure, these skills are critical for delivering results, protecting clients' interests and managing a successful practice.
Description
Attend the full series and earn 3 CPD units in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
If you register for the full series as a live online product after the date of an individual session, you will be sent the recording for the sessions that have passed. Alternatively, you can register for individual sessions by following the links below.
View series listing
