Philadelphia Litigation Lawyer: How To Help Your Lawyer Win Your Case
By Gary Green, Managing Partner at Sidkoff, Pincus & Green P.C., [email protected]
The client is not just a passenger in a lawsuit. Instead, the client should be a combination of co-pilot and Air Traffic Control. Your lawyer needs your help.
1. Write A Story About Your Case
You know what happened. Judges and juries will transform the evidence they hear at trial into a story. Therefore, you can get a head start by putting the facts together in the same way a novelist would write about the case. You can use chronological order and create a narrative that starts at the beginning. In some cases, the personalities and relationships of the parties and witnesses are more important. Whatever you select, write out everything you can think of. Eliminate all duplication to allow your lawyer to digest your story. Keep a copy and update your story as you learn or understand new things. Do not be afraid to throw out the story and start over if the mode you picked (e.g., chronological) turns out to be less effective than another (e.g., personal relationships). When you have your testimony taken, your story will help you keep the facts in perspective to the issues in the case. Also, your narrative will be a road-map for your lawyer when he cross examines your adversaries and plans for the evidence needed for you to win.
2. Do Not Be Afraid To Be Honest
Many people make the mistake of thinking that if their case does not have a perfect set of facts they cannot win. However, judges and juries know life is flawed like genuine leather and a case that looks perfect is treated like a cheap, plastic imitation of the truth. Your lawyer will be planning your case around what you tell him. If you do not tell him the truth, he will get stuck on a detour. Think of telling an ambulance driver directions on where it should pick up a sick loved one. You surely would be as accurate as possible; and your communications with your lawyer must be just as careful and accurate
3. Organize Your Emails And Papers
In modern trials, email and documents often dominate the case. Do not shirk the work of diligently searching all of your computers and phones for email and text messages; and similarly, locate every paper document. These things will be like bullets in your lawyer’s gun on the one hand, and will give him a plan of how to avoid traps.
For more information, call Philadelphia business lawyers at Sidkoff, Pincus & Green at 215-574-0600 or contact us online.