Law

The Gathering Storm – The First Visit to Your Lawyer

December 13, 2020 Paul Brennan
Law
The Gathering Storm – The First Visit to Your Lawyer
Show Notes Transcript

Your lawyer will take a candid look at the issue.


© Paul Brennan 2018. All rights Reserved.


Brennans solicitors
Lawyers - Property, commercial, disputes, Wills and estates

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Paul Brennan is the principal of Brennans Solicitors, a law firm located on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, where he practices with his wife, Diane in the areas of business law, litigation, property and wills/estates.

Over the years, by working in various countries, he noticed how similar the law can be. He set out to explain the law in a simple and often humorous way.

He has written several books about law and lawyers.

Further details of his profile can be found on Linkedin.

If your living room looks a little untidy, are you the sort of person who starts cleaning in the attic?  

 

It is easy to approach a legal dispute from the wrong angle and become overwhelmed. 
 
 Here are three reasons why, when faced with a legal problem, you delay in seeing your lawyer: 
 
 1. You decide to work on the problem yourself- 3 am is always a good time for this sort of reflection. 


 2. You want to organise every last page of detail-letters, emails, diagrams, photos etc. to give your lawyer the clearest picture.


 3. You have another go at getting your adversary to see sense, which fails.
 
 Some people don’t do all this.  Instead, they go to their lawyers early, get the advice, and are often able to avoid the legal dispute and move on. Dull I know.
 
 A lawyer may approach the first interview in three stages:
 
 Stage 1. 


 • What damage have you really suffered?  He doesn’t care about the ins and out of how you have been shafted, only the consequences.


 • Is there a cheaper or alternative method of getting what you want as opposed to legal action?

 

Stage 2.  If legal action is the only solution: 


 • Can you prove it?  Start from a position of strength or you are likely to lose. 


 • Can you gather more evidence?  Hopefully, you have left the door open to interacting with your adversary.


 Stage 3. A reality check:


 • Do you want to spend the cash. 


 • Do you have the grit that litigation requires?  More than aggression, it requires time and hard work. 
 
 All this can often be done in a thirty-minute initial interview.  There will be plenty of time for 3 am considerations and mind-numbing detail later, if necessary.


© Paul Brennan 2018. All rights Reserved.

Extract from "The Art of War, Peace & Palaver: The Contentious Guide to Legal Disputes" by Paul Brennan