Leucadia Law & Mediation

Credibility

I get a high volume of calls from people looking for a lawyer in San Diego, California.  I offer a free 45-minute consultation, during which time I try to do everything I can to determine if a given case or claim has merit.  In assessing the merits of a case, a lawyer processes a high volume of information.  Oftentimes, such as in business disputes, a case can be comprised of thousands of pages of information.  Other times, such as in bad faith insurance disputes, a case can be comprised of a very technical and complicated insurance policy (in addition to thousands of pages of information!).

A lawyer must know the applicable laws, the facts, the documents, and must assimilate all of that information into an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of a case.

Most important, however, a lawyer must know his or her client.

Regardless of the type of dispute being litigated, the first thing that a lawyer has to determine is whether a jury will like his or her client.  (In “Bandit,” Neil Young said it right: “Lawyers in business, you get what you bring.”)  What Neil didn’t say is something that many clients miss: the lawyer is only as credible as the client, and the client is only as credible as the lawyer.

At the end of the day, a lawyer can know all of the applicable laws, the facts, the documents, and the testimony of the witnesses like the back of his or her hand.  If the client is not going to emotionally appeal to the jury, though, it’s all useless information. 

I had an insurance bad faith case where I liked my facts, and I liked the law in our favor, but what I really liked was my client.  She was in her mid-70s and was a retired nurse.  She was as sharp as she could be, but not in a condescending or know-it-all way.  She simply knew the facts and knew the science behind the medicine that was relevant to her dispute.  There were facts that were adverse to our case, but in the negotiating process I told the lawyer on the other side, “I know the holes in my case.  I know what your arguments are going to be, and there are some strong arguments there.  But ultimately a jury is going to find a way to put money in my client’s pocket.” 

A few weeks later, on the call wherein an agreement was reached, the lawyer on the other side somewhat surprisingly told me, “We have strong arguments, and I think we have arguments that you may not have considered.  But ultimately, you said something a while back that I think is true.  At the end of the day, a jury is going to find a way to put money in your client’s pocket.”

I cannot stress how important integrity and honesty are in the context of litigation.  For a client, this means being honest with your lawyer and being willing to disclose information that may be adverse to your case.  You have to assume that the other side already has those facts.  What happens if you hide those facts or lie to try to conceal those facts is far worse than if you just address them head on in the first place.  It is your lawyer’s job to do damage control and to minimize the impact of adverse facts.  Ultimately, in disclosing facts adverse to your case you are building your credibility with the other side and, although it seems counterintuitive, likely taking steps towards a positive outcome.