Don’t KILL your case!
The legal process is a frustrating beast and let me be the first to tell you, the BEAST always wins! Now, I am not saying that the BEAST will beat you but what I am saying is that most people get so upset with the waiting, the red tape, and all of the little steps you have to take in order to get from point A to Point B that they sometimes do things in order to fight the BEAST.
If you’ve hired an attorney, your attorney is trained to fight for you as well as deal with this BEAST that is known as the LEGAL process. Unfortunately, too many times, people will do things that may potentially HURT (or even KILL) their case:
1) Talking to witnesses on your own. Depending on the situation, you really should let your attorneys talk to potential witnesses. Why? One, attorneys tend to fully document the context of the conversation. Two, attorneys tend to have specific, well crafted questions that they ask which will give them an idea of whether the witness’s information is helpful or harmful. Three, what you tell your witnesses may eventually come back to bite you in court. You don’t know how someone will convey what you said to them.
2) Sending in your own evidence. So you found something that you think is useful, that’s great. Make sure you let your attorney see it first. Most attorneys are aware of discovery requirements but if you decide to give the other side some information that you didn’t necessarily have to give and it’s damming to you……….do I need to go further??
3) Taking steps without consulting your attorney. If you are going to do what you want to do, then you probably don’t need an attorney. Most attorneys work to carefully lay out a plan of attack to deal with any issues or problems that may arise and if you decide that you are going to do things that undermine that, the attorney can’t help you.
4) Responding to the court or the other side on your own. If you get documents from the court or the other side, unless you don’t have an attorney, please be careful not to respond. So much time, we think that if respond to someone right away, it will help our case.
5) following the advice of someone who is NOT your attorney. I had a friend of mine who is an attorney tell me that she has to tell her client’s all the time “I didn’t know they gave out law degrees at the gas station?”. The reason she says this is because so many times, her clients will come to her FIRED up because someone who is NOT an attorney will tell her client something and then come to her HOT! Becareful about following the road of some person who THINKS they know what’s going on when in reality, they don’t.
Like I said, the legal process is a BEAST but don’t add to the problem by giving the BEAST food to eat. The process is tough but it can be tougher if you do things to make it worse.
Should you handle a legal case by yourself?
So you get a letter from an attorney, should you hire an attorney or handle the case yourself? Somebody broke the contract between you and them, should you take them to court on your own? You have legal instrument you want to prepare. Should you have the case reviewed by an attorney?
Aside from a few very specialized areas of law, the legal process is ultimately designed to afford the average person the ability to represent themselves. However, there are a few things that you should keep in mind if you are deciding to representing yourself:
1) There are no special rules for you as a ‘pro se’ litigant. Pro se legal representation refers to the instance of a person representing himself or herself without a lawyer in a court proceeding, whether as a defendant or a plaintiff and whether the matter is civil or criminal. Most courts are governed by local rules or specific rules regarding processes and procedures. You are still bound by those same requirements so don’t expect to get any special preferential treatment because you are preceding without a lawyer.
2) The law library is a great resource. Quite a few court houses have law libraries that provide a wealth of different forms and materials which can help you with your case.
3) The clerk of court may have a special program. Depending on the type of legal proceedings, some courts actually have legal programs that may assist you with completing forms or navigating the legal process.
4) Legal forms on line can be helpful but it’s not the only thing. You can find a variety of great forms on line through various legal document sources. However, remember, these forms are not designed to substitute for any legal information that your state requires. Some legal document sources may provide state specific forms depending on the topic but be careful if you get a generic form. These generic forms may not have everything you need.
5) The judge is NOT your friend. In some legal proceedings, the judge may have an extra duty to ensure that you are provided an additional amount of explanation regarding certain court proceedings. You may, also, be given an extra degree of latitude in navigating the process. However, you are still bound by the same standards as it relates to negotiating the process so your ignorance about the law may not save you. You still have the responsibility to be knowledgeable about the information that relates to your case.
6) The other attorney is NOT your friend. Attorneys are in the busy of getting the maximum benefit for their client. They are NOT there to help you with your case. So an attorney who deals with the area of law that you are dealing with may utilize every tactical advantage of their knowledge of their law against you.
7) Just because you think you have GOOD FACTS, the law may not provide a GOOD OUTCOME. Alot of people think that their facts are so great that they don’t need an attorney. They think that the facts should stand alone. But people sometimes forget that facts can be used to paint a picture in a multiple number of ways. It may be even tougher if you are dealer with an attorney who can get rid of certain facts or even paint your facts in a bad way. Don’t automatically assume that your case is SO good that you can’t lose.
Representing yourself is a very ‘doable’ thing but you can possibly put yourself in a worse situation if you don’t take the time to ensure that you are prepared for all possibilities.
Always keep in contact
Attorneys have an ethical duty to keep their client’s informed. Unfortunately, our clients don’t always do a good job of keeping attorney informed of their comings and goings. One of the things that I have repeatedly stated was that the legal process is invariably a lengthy process so you don’t always get the result that you are looking for as fast as YOU would like it. As such, it is important to let your attorney know where you are:
1) Just because you haven’t heard from your attorney, doesn’t mean your case is dead. Alot of times, there will be significant gaps in time while your case is going through litigation or pre-litigation.
2) If you’re going to give up your case, LET your attorney know. Sometimes, people will just abandon their case because they think that there is nothing left to do. As such, they will give up on the case. Unfortunately, attorneys can’t close your case just because you have walked away. If you don’t tell them, they will keep going.
3) Sometimes, not knowing where YOU are will hold up the process. It’s amazing the number of people who don’t appreciate the fact that if the attorney needs to get to know about something and they CAN’T, this holds up YOUR case. You should always be accessible.
4) Give a back up number. Times get tough and alot of times, you may be moving from house to house. Give a few numbers to your attorney so your attorney can locate you if they need you.
Remember, the legal process is a two way street. Even though your attorney runs the case, you may have to make some crucial decisions. If the attorney can’t find you, then how can the decisions be made??
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