That Lying Client Can Cost You More Than Just Your License
Everyone expects clients to be honest with them, especially since it's going to be you who helps them get out of sticky situations. However, at Davis & Associates, we realize that this isn't always the case.
It doesn't matter whether you are an attorney, an HR executive, or even a manager at a company - you don't always get the truth, even if it's what you need to do your job. Most of the time, it can be ascribed to simple confusion, or a missed detail. No harm done, nothing too bad will happen.
Other times, it turns out to be a horrible, horrible disaster.
While I worked for one of the largest firms in Denver, I found out that attorneys are often the unknowing targets of clients that intentionally lie, in order to make their case more favorable. Some issues are minor mishaps, like a traffic ticket that may or may not affect a client's case. However, I have also seen clients deliberately lie to attorneys by refusing to give them vital information that might not only end their case completely, but also cause legal issues for the innocent attorney who took their case.
We have done background checks on clients because the attorney at hand wanted to know the facts before they filed a case. Many clients have lied from the beginning of an intake process such as a computer generated form, or phone message to the firm. From there, we have seen those same clients that have come into the attorney’s office and have given stories of their cases that actually were the opposite of what really happened. In some cases, the client has come into an intake and told the case manager or attorney that they were the victim of a car accident, when after a simple background check, showed that the client was actually cited in the accident and was the defendant listed on the accident report.
It can get even worse than car accident trials. Clients will often either omit or tell a complete lie to attorneys when asked about their prior injuries. Most of the time, this is because they wrongly believe that the attorney won't take their case if they don't lie. One can only imagine the look of horror on an attorney's face after he finds out that he had filed a case, spent thousands of dollars into it, only to find that the client has been involved in prior injury cases that have already received money settlements.
Even a seemingly innocuous Facebook account can be an issue in your case. Davis & Associates has a track record of using social media outlets - not only to track down defendants and their daily activities for cases, but also clients as well. Because of this, we often advise those who are in the middle of personal injury cases to avoid using social media while they are injured or healing. More often than not, clients do not heed this warning, and will often post photos, stories or similar postings of activities that will harm their injury case should opposing counsel view the site, and trust me, if we do it, so do they!
Every day, Davis & Associates conducts dozens of background searches on clients and their cases. On an average of two to three days a week, we will uncover at least one form of potentially dangerous information that is then passed onto our clients. This way, attorneys can better prepare their staff and clients. We can help you, whether you need a single background check, or a thousand. Why take the chance?
It can get even worse than car accident trials. Clients will often either omit or tell a complete lie to attorneys when asked about their prior injuries. Most of the time, this is because they wrongly believe that the attorney won't take their case if they don't lie. One can only imagine the look of horror on an attorney's face after he finds out that he had filed a case, spent thousands of dollars into it, only to find that the client has been involved in prior injury cases that have already received money settlements.
Even a seemingly innocuous Facebook account can be an issue in your case. Davis & Associates has a track record of using social media outlets - not only to track down defendants and their daily activities for cases, but also clients as well. Because of this, we often advise those who are in the middle of personal injury cases to avoid using social media while they are injured or healing. More often than not, clients do not heed this warning, and will often post photos, stories or similar postings of activities that will harm their injury case should opposing counsel view the site, and trust me, if we do it, so do they!
Every day, Davis & Associates conducts dozens of background searches on clients and their cases. On an average of two to three days a week, we will uncover at least one form of potentially dangerous information that is then passed onto our clients. This way, attorneys can better prepare their staff and clients. We can help you, whether you need a single background check, or a thousand. Why take the chance?
No comments:
Post a Comment