William Asche

I’m William Asche, an attorney here at Joye Law Firm. I work out of the Charleston office. I handle workers’ compensation and personal injury law.

People are not walking through our door with great news. Something unfortunate has taken place, whether it’s an injury in the workplace or some accident outside of work. They’ve been hurt. They have medical bills that are piling up. They have concerns about their income stream, and they have concerns about taking care of their family.

The most important thing I do in that first meeting is to really listen to them. You’ve got to listen to your client. Your client has an unbelievably important amount of information that you need to get from them. You want them to feel comfortable and open, and honest with you. It’s not enough just to know the statutory law or how to put together demand packages. You’ve got to know your client through and through. You cannot do it without listening.

At the initial meeting, clients want to get a lot of things off their chest and air out their concerns before they ever get into the legal aspects of their claim. I allow them to get things off their shoulders, and then we can start talking about the logistical steps – how we are going to move forward, what the case is going to look like, and the time frame. I try to give them some kind of direction and level of comfort.