Things Not to Do with Your Lawyer Part 4 - Make Assumptions
June 29, 2020
The first thing that clients must understand is that we are here to help!
When you make a decision without talking to your lawyer, and it does not work for your benefit, the lawyer may not be able to undo the consequences for an action that you have already put in motion. A simple phone call, email, or office visit could have saved a LOT of heartaches.
Things may not work out the way any of us planned, but sometimes it is a good idea to communicate and discuss the issue with someone who has experience in the area and has litigated that area in court.
The worst thing you can do is get advice from someone who is not an attorney, or from an attorney who DOES NOT practice in that particular area of law. Don't talk to your cousin who practices criminal law, or Civil Rights law, when you are in the middle of a divorce and they don't know how to litigate a Divorce or Estate problem. That's like going to an electrician for a plumbing problem. While both work in the area of maintaining your home, they work in two different areas that require different spheres of knowledge.
The practice of law is more complicated than it looks. It's not as easy as googling an answer. If it were, then every law student would have wasted their time going to school for 3 years after college. There are many MANY things to keep in mind involving the strategy of a case- that the average person would not even think of!
For Example
Did you know that there are rules of evidence? Some of your documents can be presented to the courts and some cannot. You cannot simply submit ANY document to the court that you feel is helpful, or have someone write a letter. IF you do not have the document prepared in a certain way or have come from the right source- IT is not admissible. It is almost as if the document didn't exist. There are entire classes concerning how to get documents admitted into evidence, because getting that document before the judge may or may not be an easy thing.
Once you consider that you have an expert there to answer your questions, then your case will run smoothly. If you believe you or your friends know more than your lawyer, it's time to represent yourself- you know more than they do anyway!!