In business, commerce, and economics, a client is a person who receives advice or services from a professional, such as a lawyer or a

health care provider A health care provider is an individual health professional or a health facility organization licensed to provide health care diagnosis and treatment services including medication, surgery and medical devices. Health care providers often receive ...

. Clients differ from customers in that customers are thought of as "one-time buyers" while clients can be seen as "long-term recipients", and customers buy

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not ...

as well as services.

Etymology

The term ''client'' is derived from Latin ''clientem'' or ''clinare'' meaning "to incline" or "to bend", the same root as many other similar words such as ''

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

'' and ''incline''.

By field

Health care

Clients of health care providers are generally called ''

patients A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health care ...

'', though it is not uncommon for

therapist Therapist is a person who offers any kinds of therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indi ...

s to use the word ''client''. Therapeutic relationships are subject to requirements of

confidentiality Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise usually executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access or places restrictions on certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, lawyers are often required ...

, meaning that therapists are not to disclose information shared by their clients during sessions, to those not involved in the session. However, there are a number of exceptions in which a therapist can and must "break" the confidentiality, such as when the information suggests that the client poses an immediate threat to themselves or to others.

Law

Lawyers and attorneys also have clients, although the UK's

Solicitors Regulation Authority The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales. It is responsible for regulating the professional conduct of more than 125,000 solicitors and other authorised individuals at more than 11,000 ...

refers to those who use legal services as "customers". An important aspect of a lawyer's job is developing and managing relationships with clients or, if the lawyer works for a government agency or corporation, the client's employees. Lawyers give legal advice to their clients as part of the legal process.

References

Business Supply chain management {{Business-stub