You Have a Strong Case… NOT!
More often than is desirable some of my colleagues tend to overindulge in optimism when providing a legal opinion on a soon-to-be litigation matter. You can often hear and read on online forums the words “You have a strong case!“. This sort of a ‘closer’ phrase when selling services can bring about nasty surprises, especially if the judge thinks otherwise.
So I tend not to use this language when dealing with my clients, and will, on the contrary, give them a more elaborate opinion which will invariably include playing the devil’s advocate and exclude encouraging clients to file a case. Let’s not forget that the opposing party will also be assisted by expert legal advice who knows the law, case law and how certain judges perceive different types of disputes.
In my opinion any lawyer needs to be very frank and open about the possibilities of obtaining a favourable ruling and should provide a per cent ratio of success, which even in the most blatantly clear case should not exceed 75% (so run away from the 95% success rate claims, and do it quickly!).
Litigation is a double-edged sword that can turn out to be very expensive for our clients, especially if a case is lost and therefore we (lawyers) should contemplate all -legally- available options prior to dragging our clients into courtroom, with their best interests as the main motivation and the legal fee bill as the last!