Most problems between lawyers and clients are not about competence. They are about expectations that were never written down. This article explains what the relationship actually consists of: how it is formed, what the engagement letter should say, and what happens when it says nothing. It covers the three fee structures and the questions that should be asked about each, including what a contingency percentage is actually applied to and how costs are treated. Separate parts cover the duties a lawyer owes — competence, diligence, communication, confidentiality, loyalty, and safekeeping of client property — and the attorney-client privilege, including what destroys it and how it differs from the broader duty of confidentiality. Later parts cover conflicts of interest, the client's right to discharge a lawyer at any time and the lawyer's much narrower right to withdraw, the client file and who owns it, and the three separate paths available when something goes wrong: fee arbitration, a bar complaint, and a malpractice claim. Examples run throughout, and the recurring point is that nearly every dispute traces to a conversation that should have happened at the beginning.