Client shows up at your office unexpectedly. She’s upset, upset, upset.

Maybe she’s mad at you. Maybe she’s mad at opposing counsel. Maybe she’s mad at her soon-to-be former spouse.

It doesn’t matter why she’s mad; she’s just mad. Mad like nuclear meltdown mad. MAD.

This is not an extraordinary happening in a family law practice. If it hasn’t happened yet, it’s going to happen soon. It’s just part of doing this work.

Your team needs to be well prepared when it happens. Everyone needs to know the strategy for dealing with a very upset person.

The most important thing you can do is to get the person out of the lobby. Get the person into a room and close the door.

The last thing you need is for another client, or worse, a prospective client, to happen upon the meltdown. You need to isolate the problem by getting the upset person away from everyone else.

Your team needs to be trained to promptly remove the person to a conference room.

“Ms. Jones, it sounds like you’re very upset. Let me take you to a room so we can figure out how we can help.”

Once the client is in the room, close the door, walk away, and calm down. An upset client invariably upsets the person handling the client. It’s contagious. Once the upset person is isolated, it’s easier to figure out what to do next. Generally, that involves finding the responsible attorney. Be sure your staff understands the need to avoid engagement unless they’ve been specifically trained in managing upset clients. It’s easy for an untrained person to add fuel to the fire.

The key here is anticipating the upset client (it’s coming soon), move the situation from the public room to a private space, and then develop a plan for talking the client off the ledge.

Most importantly, don’t let the drama play out in your lobby. Don’t let it disrupt the flow of business in your firm. Don’t let one upset client cost you the opportunity to serve your other clients or prospective clients.