I’ve talked to over 500,000 people about their Illinois legal issues since 2001, and one thing has never happened.
That one thing is that nobody has ever called me and told me what a piece of crap they are, and how the person on the other side of the case is much better than them. At least nobody volunteers that at the get-go. As lawyers, we always hear a story from a potential client that paints them and their case in the best light.
That’s alright and understandable. We are strangers when you call us, and it’s not within human nature to be that vulnerable right away.
I’ve gotten pretty good at putting most people at ease, and sometimes that leads to them disclosing things that are legally relevant in evaluating their case. Other times we ask direct probing questions about the case facts. Having evaluated so many cases, we usually know the right questions to ask.
One question that I love to ask that really helps me in some cases, especially family law and partnership disputes, is what is the opposing party telling their attorney about you?
This isn’t me asking them to tell me how awful they are, it’s a chance for them to project what someone else will say, which is often the truth. And it is really a good question for almost every area of law. I’ve used it on work comp cases, custody cases, and even claims for life insurance benefits.
As lawyers, we don’t worry as much about what someone else might say. We don’t assume they are telling the truth or lying. What we don’t want to have happen is to be surprised with information. Preparation and knowledge is a really big part about getting the best result possible for a client.
Unfortunately some clients lie. In one case, a family law attorney I know asked her client if he ever does drugs. He made clear that he doesn’t and never had. This was an important question because there was a tough child custody battle going on. She prepared for an important court hearing with the belief her client never has done drugs.
At the hearing the opposing attorney played a video which showed that not only was he doing drugs, he was snorting cocaine in front of his young children. This after he swore up and down he didn’t do anything beyond drink socially. Needless to say, this guy lost custody and the relationship between him and his client was broken.
You aren’t expected to have a “perfect” story. Everyone has flaws and very few cases are completely clean. If you got hit by someone who ran a red light, don’t deny that you were also going ten miles over the limit. If your life insurance claim was rejected, don’t conceal the fact that you knowingly didn’t disclose a history of heart trouble. If you get arrested for a burglary, don’t give your attorney some fake alibi.
No lawyer can guarantee a result. But we can promise that if a surprise happens it makes the chances of winning worse. Had the family law lawyer I know been aware of the cocaine use, she could have offered an explanation. She could have gotten her client into rehab or an evaluation with a drug counselor. She could have gotten drug test results during the 60 days before the hearing. It would still be a bad situation, but there would at least be a chance.
This is why any good lawyer will go over your testimony before you give a deposition or testify at trial. We don’t want surprises. We don’t want you to be perfect, just truthful. And if you lie, you stop even the best lawyer from being able to do their job for you.
