Posted on February 25, 2008 by John Steele
Arghhhh! Why do a few of my clients feel the need to lie, shade the truth, omit facts, or whatever you want to call it? (I know the answer, I am being rhetorical). If you pay me to represent you, I do not pass judgment. I am not your conscious. When you do not tell me the truth, I will still get it. Sometimes I get it while standing in front of a judge on the 16th floor of the Daley Center when opposing counsel is showing written proof that the statement I just made about you is total crap. But I eventually do get the truth. The only time I have decided to withdraw from a case is when the client kept lying to me, and wasting my time. So the moral of the story is: Tell your attorney everything. Do not lie, and do not ask him to lie. The only thing I have to disclose is an obvious thing like if you tell me you are going to go kill your spouse tomorrow. I have to try to convince you to change your mind, and then I have to tell the police. So in other words, do not kill your spouse. If you must, don’t tell me.
Lastly, and relatedly, do not become my associate attorney, and figure out a case strategy, thereby determining what I need to know and what I do not need to know. That is my rant I had to get off my chest. And for the 2 clients this rant is about, be happy that my venting on my blog saves you money, since I won’t yell at you as much tomorrow.
Posted on February 25, 2008 by John Steele
Arghhhh! Why do a few of my clients feel the need to lie, shade the truth, omit facts, or whatever you want to call it? (I know the answer, I am being rhetorical). If you pay me to represent you, I do not pass judgment. I am not your conscious. When you do not tell me the truth, I will still get it. Sometimes I get it while standing in front of a judge on the 16th floor of the Daley Center when opposing counsel is showing written proof that the statement I just made about you is total crap. But I eventually do get the truth. The only time I have decided to withdraw from a case is when the client kept lying to me, and wasting my time. So the moral of the story is: Tell your attorney everything. Do not lie, and do not ask him to lie. The only thing I have to disclose is an obvious thing like if you tell me you are going to go kill your spouse tomorrow. I have to try to convince you to change your mind, and then I have to tell the police. So in other words, do not kill your spouse. If you must, don’t tell me.
Lastly, and relatedly, do not become my associate attorney, and figure out a case strategy, thereby determining what I need to know and what I do not need to know. That is my rant I had to get off my chest. And for the 2 clients this rant is about, be happy that my venting on my blog saves you money, since I won’t yell at you as much tomorrow.
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