When you face a tough legal dilemma, your lawyer can stand by your side and help you to fight allegations and expensive court orders. Although your attorney might endure these challenges with a smile on their face, many clients unintentionally frustrate their attorneys by doing the wrong things. Here are three ways that you can make your lawyer's job a little easier, so that your case can have a successful outcome.
1: Don't Set Unrealistic Expectations
As you snuggle up with a cup of cocoa and enjoy the latest episode of your favorite crime drama, you might be developing unrealistic expectations for your future lawyer. On TV, forensic experts quickly collect evidence, run it through state-of-the-art database systems, and turn the case over to lawyers, who convict the criminal in a few days. When characters are sentenced to jail time, skilled attorneys find legal loopholes, rescuing their client from lengthy prison stays.
Although this isn't the way things work in the real world, television has had a significant impact on the courtroom. Research has shown that over 2/3rds of jurors expect scientific evidence in criminal cases, when in fact, it isn't always available. Criminals don't always leave traces of their own blood on murder weapons, and cheating business partners can be tricky to hunt down.
If you want to make your lawyer's job easier, try to set realistic expectations. Don't expect your legal counsel to track down impossible evidence, and talk with him about the actual potential consequences that you stand to face.
2: Never Lie to your Lawyer
When it comes right down to it, most people would rather not talk about their personal lives with someone they don't know that well. Instead of being completely honest with their attorney about past mistakes or the intricacies of their personal lives, many people decide to omit facts or flat out lie. In addition to frustrating your lawyer, being untruthful can be seriously detrimental to your case.
For example, if you were accused of embezzling money from the company that you used to work for, and you don't mention to your attorney that you actually did use your company credit card to pay for a few expensive dinners, your entire case could be delegitimized when the prosecuting attorney submits your meal receipts into evidence.
When it comes to legal matters, always be completely truthful with your attorney. Never hide evidence or omit important details. Although it might be difficult to share your personal life with someone that you don't know that well, when your lawyer has the facts, he or she can represent you more effectively.
3: Stay Away from Social Media
Nothing is more frustrating to an attorney than trying to get their casework together, only to have their entire plan destroyed by a client who posts on social media. Although you might think that your online pictures, comments, and whereabouts are private, the fact of the matter is that the information that you post on social media sites can be used against you.
In fact, one study showed that up to 81% of matrimonial lawyers stated that they have used or had to deal with evidence collected from social media sites within the past five years. Posting online might not seem like that big of a deal, but in a court of law, pictures and simple statements can be used to show your intent, desires, attitudes, or habits.
Do your lawyer a favor, and stay away from your favorite social media sites when you are in the middle of a legal battle. Remember that you can always post later, but you might not be able to take back an online comment or image.
Being mindful of the things that you do and say as you work with your attorney from a place like Flett Manning Moore, can help your lawyer to fight your case effectively, so that you can get on with your normal life.
Share1 October 2014
The court system can seem frightening and confusing if you're not used to using it. Whether you've been accused of a crime and you're trying to navigate the criminal court system, or you're being sued or considering suing someone else in civil court, you need an advocate who knows their way around. That's why finding the right lawyer for the job is so important. In this blog, I'll be helping you learn how to choose the right lawyer for the job and sharing information about legal strategies and courtroom procedures that you may come across when you have a legal problem. You need accurate information to help you understand the court system, and this blog can help.