ABSTRACT
The changing nature of the legal profession and the increasing emphasis on customer service has lead to a focus within the law firms on developing and maintaining relationships with their clients. However, although there is an obvious relevance of relationship marketing in this context, the characteristics of this market suggest that some aspects of relationship marketing theory may not be applicable. This paper concentrates on how clients perceive the relationship, specifically which aspects of the ongoing relationship are important in the evaluation of satisfaction and the relative influence of process and outcome in this evaluation. The results indicate that despite the conceptual difficulties in separating these concepts, outcome is ultimately more 1 important than process in the continuation of the relationship. The paper concludes that although the personal relationship between lawyers and their clients is important, it more complex that the relationship marketing literature might suggest.
