{"id":158433,"date":"2026-07-27T08:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/27\/marco-imperiale-is-right-lawyers-dont-know-their-clients-nearly-as-well-as-they-think\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T08:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:40:21","slug":"marco-imperiale-is-right-lawyers-dont-know-their-clients-nearly-as-well-as-they-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/27\/marco-imperiale-is-right-lawyers-dont-know-their-clients-nearly-as-well-as-they-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Marco Imperiale Is Right: Lawyers Don\u2019t Know Their Clients Nearly As Well As They Think"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"699\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/meeting-with-summer-associate-intern-mentor-mentoring-mentorship.jpg?resize=699%2C500&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-69402\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every lawyer says they know their client.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m increasingly convinced that many of us don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not because we don\u2019t care. Not because we aren\u2019t paying attention. Because we rarely stop long enough to understand how clients actually experience legal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That became the central theme of my recent conversation with Marco Imperiale, founder of Better Ipsum and author of \u201cPracticing Legal Design.\u201d We started by talking about legal design. We ended somewhere much more interesting: customer obsession.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marco said something that stayed with me long after we finished recording.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou think that, yeah, I really know my client. No, you don\u2019t really know your client.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a simple statement. It\u2019s also an uncomfortable one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most lawyers measure client relationships by responsiveness. We answer emails quickly. We negotiate hard. We know the business. We solve difficult problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">None of those things necessarily mean we understand what it\u2019s actually like to work with us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>When Was The Last Time You Simply Listened?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marco posed a series of questions that every legal department should ask itself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen was the last time you structured your feedback? When was the last time you spoke with your marketing department and looked at the feedback? When was the last time you reflected with your client about the way this person receives the communication? When was the last time that you spent a listening dinner with your client without selling services, just listening?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I love that phrase: a listening dinner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No presentation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No legal update.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No quarterly review.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No discussion about outside counsel budgets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just listening.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As lawyers, we\u2019re trained to diagnose problems and provide answers. That\u2019s our profession. We often enter conversations already thinking about the solution before we\u2019ve fully understood the experience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s a dangerous habit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The best product companies don\u2019t start by building features. They start by understanding users. Amazon, Netflix, Uber, and Apple invest enormous effort into understanding how customers experience their products before deciding what to build next.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Legal should be no different.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Legal Design Isn\u2019t Really About Design<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many people hear \u201clegal design\u201d and immediately think colorful contracts, icons, or prettier documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marco argues that\u2019s missing the point.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a new way of conceiving the legal practice and the law as we know it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think he\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The visuals matter. Clear language matters. Better typography matters. They all improve comprehension.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But those are outputs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The real work happens much earlier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It begins with questioning assumptions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why are definitions always at the beginning of a contract?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why can\u2019t contracts include timelines?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why can\u2019t clauses contain examples?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why can\u2019t legal documents reflect how people actually consume information today?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those questions aren\u2019t really about design.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019re about curiosity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lawyers Optimize. Designers Experiment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of my favorite moments came when Marco contrasted how lawyers and designers approach problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLawyers tend to spend too much time thinking and not enough time doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His answer wasn\u2019t to think less.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was to prototype more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLegal design is a matter of testing and validating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That mindset feels increasingly important in the AI era.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Artificial intelligence can help us draft faster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It can summarize documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It can rewrite clauses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It cannot tell us whether we\u2019re solving the right problem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Too often we automate processes we never questioned in the first place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Making a bad process faster doesn\u2019t make it better.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legal departments creating the most value over the next decade won\u2019t simply adopt AI. They\u2019ll rethink how legal work gets delivered before deciding where AI belongs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Expertise Is No Longer Enough<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Toward the end of our conversation, Marco made another observation that resonated with me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For years we told lawyers to specialize more deeply.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then AI arrived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe more you\u2019re relying on your knowledge, the more you may be substituted. The more you\u2019re relying on curiosity, the better is the outcome for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don\u2019t interpret that as dismissing expertise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Expertise remains essential.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But expertise without curiosity becomes brittle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Curiosity keeps expertise alive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The best in-house lawyers I\u2019ve worked with aren\u2019t the ones who always have the fastest answer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019re the ones asking better questions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They want to understand why the business works the way it does. They ask how sales actually sells. They spend time with procurement. They shadow customer support. They join product meetings. They learn how finance thinks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s what makes their legal advice valuable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not because they know more law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because they understand more context.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Humility Creates Better Lawyers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I asked Marco for one final takeaway to leave with the audience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His answer surprised me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think that lawyers lack humbleness. A little bit less ego.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He wasn\u2019t criticizing lawyers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was describing a leadership opportunity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The best legal advisors don\u2019t pretend they already know everything.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They admit when something can improve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They invite criticism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They ask clients how legal could become easier to work with.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They understand that vulnerability isn\u2019t weakness. It\u2019s how trust develops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That idea aligns closely with something I\u2019ve believed for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Legal exists to help the business succeed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If our clients struggle to understand our contracts, our policies, or our advice, the answer isn\u2019t to explain why they\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The answer is to ask why our communication failed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s a much harder question.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s also a much more valuable one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The future of legal won\u2019t be defined only by AI, automation, or faster drafting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It will be defined by lawyers who understand the people they serve better than anyone else.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That future starts with a surprisingly simple skill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listening.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Olga V. Mack is the CEO of TermScout, where she builds legal systems that make contracts faster to understand, easier to operate, and more trustworthy in real business conditions. Her work focuses on how legal rules allocate power, manage risk, and shape decisions under uncertainty.<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>A serial CEO and former General Counsel, Olga previously led a legal technology company through acquisition by LexisNexis. She teaches at Berkeley Law and is a Fellow at CodeX, the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics.<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>She has authored several books on legal innovation and technology, delivered six TEDx talks, and her insights regularly appear in Forbes, Bloomberg Law, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, and Above the Law. Her work treats law as essential infrastructure, designed for how organizations actually operate.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2026\/07\/marco-imperiale-is-right-lawyers-dont-know-their-clients-nearly-as-well-as-they-think\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Marco Imperiale Is Right: Lawyers Don\u2019t Know Their Clients Nearly As Well As They Think<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"699\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/meeting-with-summer-associate-intern-mentor-mentoring-mentorship.jpg?resize=699%2C500&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-69402\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every lawyer says they know their client.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m increasingly convinced that many of us don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not because we don\u2019t care. Not because we aren\u2019t paying attention. Because we rarely stop long enough to understand how clients actually experience legal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That became the central theme of my recent conversation with Marco Imperiale, founder of Better Ipsum and author of \u201cPracticing Legal Design.\u201d We started by talking about legal design. We ended somewhere much more interesting: customer obsession.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-Tdr_smJNPE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"> <\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marco said something that stayed with me long after we finished recording.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou think that, yeah, I really know my client. No, you don\u2019t really know your client.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a simple statement. It\u2019s also an uncomfortable one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most lawyers measure client relationships by responsiveness. We answer emails quickly. We negotiate hard. We know the business. We solve difficult problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">None of those things necessarily mean we understand what it\u2019s actually like to work with us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>When Was The Last Time You Simply Listened?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marco posed a series of questions that every legal department should ask itself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen was the last time you structured your feedback? When was the last time you spoke with your marketing department and looked at the feedback? When was the last time you reflected with your client about the way this person receives the communication? When was the last time that you spent a listening dinner with your client without selling services, just listening?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I love that phrase: a listening dinner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No presentation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No legal update.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No quarterly review.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No discussion about outside counsel budgets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just listening.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As lawyers, we\u2019re trained to diagnose problems and provide answers. That\u2019s our profession. We often enter conversations already thinking about the solution before we\u2019ve fully understood the experience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s a dangerous habit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The best product companies don\u2019t start by building features. They start by understanding users. Amazon, Netflix, Uber, and Apple invest enormous effort into understanding how customers experience their products before deciding what to build next.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Legal should be no different.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Legal Design Isn\u2019t Really About Design<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many people hear \u201clegal design\u201d and immediately think colorful contracts, icons, or prettier documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marco argues that\u2019s missing the point.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a new way of conceiving the legal practice and the law as we know it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think he\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The visuals matter. Clear language matters. Better typography matters. They all improve comprehension.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But those are outputs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The real work happens much earlier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It begins with questioning assumptions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why are definitions always at the beginning of a contract?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why can\u2019t contracts include timelines?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why can\u2019t clauses contain examples?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why can\u2019t legal documents reflect how people actually consume information today?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those questions aren\u2019t really about design.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019re about curiosity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lawyers Optimize. Designers Experiment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of my favorite moments came when Marco contrasted how lawyers and designers approach problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLawyers tend to spend too much time thinking and not enough time doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His answer wasn\u2019t to think less.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was to prototype more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLegal design is a matter of testing and validating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That mindset feels increasingly important in the AI era.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Artificial intelligence can help us draft faster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It can summarize documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It can rewrite clauses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It cannot tell us whether we\u2019re solving the right problem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Too often we automate processes we never questioned in the first place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Making a bad process faster doesn\u2019t make it better.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legal departments creating the most value over the next decade won\u2019t simply adopt AI. They\u2019ll rethink how legal work gets delivered before deciding where AI belongs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Expertise Is No Longer Enough<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Toward the end of our conversation, Marco made another observation that resonated with me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For years we told lawyers to specialize more deeply.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then AI arrived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe more you\u2019re relying on your knowledge, the more you may be substituted. The more you\u2019re relying on curiosity, the better is the outcome for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don\u2019t interpret that as dismissing expertise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Expertise remains essential.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But expertise without curiosity becomes brittle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Curiosity keeps expertise alive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The best in-house lawyers I\u2019ve worked with aren\u2019t the ones who always have the fastest answer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019re the ones asking better questions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They want to understand why the business works the way it does. They ask how sales actually sells. They spend time with procurement. They shadow customer support. They join product meetings. They learn how finance thinks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s what makes their legal advice valuable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not because they know more law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because they understand more context.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Humility Creates Better Lawyers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I asked Marco for one final takeaway to leave with the audience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His answer surprised me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think that lawyers lack humbleness. A little bit less ego.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He wasn\u2019t criticizing lawyers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was describing a leadership opportunity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The best legal advisors don\u2019t pretend they already know everything.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They admit when something can improve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They invite criticism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They ask clients how legal could become easier to work with.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They understand that vulnerability isn\u2019t weakness. It\u2019s how trust develops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That idea aligns closely with something I\u2019ve believed for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Legal exists to help the business succeed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If our clients struggle to understand our contracts, our policies, or our advice, the answer isn\u2019t to explain why they\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The answer is to ask why our communication failed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s a much harder question.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s also a much more valuable one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The future of legal won\u2019t be defined only by AI, automation, or faster drafting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It will be defined by lawyers who understand the people they serve better than anyone else.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That future starts with a surprisingly simple skill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listening.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Olga V. Mack is the CEO of TermScout, where she builds legal systems that make contracts faster to understand, easier to operate, and more trustworthy in real business conditions. Her work focuses on how legal rules allocate power, manage risk, and shape decisions under uncertainty.<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>A serial CEO and former General Counsel, Olga previously led a legal technology company through acquisition by LexisNexis. She teaches at Berkeley Law and is a Fellow at CodeX, the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics.<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>She has authored several books on legal innovation and technology, delivered six TEDx talks, and her insights regularly appear in Forbes, Bloomberg Law, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, and Above the Law. Her work treats law as essential infrastructure, designed for how organizations actually operate.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every lawyer says they know their client. I\u2019m increasingly convinced that many of us don\u2019t. Not because we don\u2019t care. Not because we aren\u2019t paying attention. Because we rarely stop long enough to understand how clients actually experience legal. That became the central theme of my recent conversation with Marco Imperiale, founder of Better Ipsum [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":158409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/meeting-with-summer-associate-intern-mentor-mentoring-mentorship-9WJtOe.jpg?fit=699%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}