It is very important that you are always honest with your lawyer or paralegal about the issues in a court case. Even if it makes puts you in a bad light. Full disclosure is key in a successful client/representative relationship.
If you are not honest with your legal representative, they can’t help you. Not only that, failing to tell the truth will only hurt you and cost you money in the long run.
It may also cause you to lose your legal representative if it is serious enough, and you it might have difficulty finding someone else to help you with your case.
If you don’t tell the truth, not only does it weaken your case, it makes your representative look bad. Judges don’t remember a party to a litigation, but they sure do remember a lawyer or paralegal. The reputation of a lawyer or paralegal is very important, especially when you appear before the same Judges or Deputy Judges over and over like we do.
I was recently caught off guard when I met with a client to draft a Defence, and the information they provided was incorrect, I think because they did not want to admit any wrongdoing. I don’t think that they lied intentionally, but I was sure caught off guard when the plaintiff approached me with facts and evidence that contradicted what our client said, and what we plead in our Defence.
Thankfully, I was able to get it settled and all is well again.
Moral of this blog: always tell the truth to your representative no matter what.
Murray Brown, Licensed Paralegal