In all my years in the legal marketing business, one of the most important lessons learned is that clients do not like surprises. Do any of us? Many years ago as an in-house marketing director, I produced a video in which clients stated their expectations of their outside law firms. I shared this with the firm’s lawyers. Many issues were raised, but clearly one of the most important to clients is not being surprised. Ed Poll, who provides coaching services for lawyers, recently commented on how “Bankers abhor surprises.” It isn’t any different for law firm clients. So, lawyers beware!