1) Preliminary problem identification

a. Introduce yourself
b. The underlying problem
i. Get the client to explain the problem in a few short sentences.
1. Ask what their goals are and what kind of solution they’d
like to see ideally
ii. Explain what you expect from the client and what they expect from
you during the interview
1. No discrete answers in the interview.
2. Explain how the interview will proceed (chronological
overview, you repeat things back, and closing)
3. Fees
4. Explain confidentiality (don’t go into detail here, just
generally that all info is confidential, but there are
exceptions, but you don’t expect those to come up and
you’ll warn the client if they seem to be about to come up)
c. Client concerns
i. As if they have any concerns/questions before proceeding
2) Chronological overview
a. Ask them to start at the beginning, and let them talk generally
b. Ask questions to keep them on track chronologically, but not too many
questions because this is the part where they should just tell you about the
problem.
i. Take notes about problems that you want to go back to.
ii. Questions should be open-ended questions that get the client to
discuss the chronology of the issue
1. “what happened next”
c. General questions to possibly ask:
i. Discuss how you obtained employment at the Hotel
ii. During the course of your employment, describe your general
duties and interactions with the other personnel.
iii. Describe the termination process as fully as possible
iv. Describe how your handicap affected your work on the job
3) Theory verification
a. Go back to the chronological overview, and see what areas you want to go
back to gain more information. Ask specific questions about those areas.
i. Use the T- funnel- start with an open question about a subject area
and then narrow that specific area down with more specific
questions
1. Start with “tell me more about…” about whatever the area
is
2. Generally: Who, what, when, where, why, how?
a. Who discriminated? Who was responsible? Exactly
what was the discrimination? When? Where?
How?
3. Get names where possible, so you can interview other
 people
ii. Discussion of the employer
1. Make this part relate back to the statute and try to pick up
how the statute would fit in to this person’s issue.
a. What is the handicap? Despite the handicap are they
still qualified for the job? How does the handicap
affect their job?
b. Did the employer ask about the handicap in any
way that led to the discrimination?
i. How was the discrimination manifested?
b. Stay on topic to whatever area is picked. Don’t jump around from topic to
topic. If something else comes up, just write it down and come back to it
later
4) Closing
a. Review of everything
i. Make sure you have the story right. Repeat it back to the client to
be sure- they can correct any problems that they see.
ii. Make sure the clients goals are clear
iii. Remind the client there are no clear answers at this point. You
recognize their problem, but you’ll have to do x,y,z and get back to
them later
b. Next steps
i. Are you going to take the case?
ii. What are the next steps
1. What will you do (research?)
2. What will the client do next
3. How will follow-up work? And when?