Another important point I bring out in my new book titled “Minority Viewpoint – my experience, as a person of color, with the American Justice System” has to do with the fact that it is extremely important for a client to thoroughly understand the whole process before deciding to pursue a lawsuit.
Lawyers handle hundreds of cases and therefore it is understandable that many issues associated with cases might seem mundane to them. But they need to understand that for clients, and especially for clients who have never brought a lawsuit before, it is extremely important to make sure they know about every possible hurdle that could come their way, no matter how mundane those might seem to the lawyers themselves.
I believe that many average Americans do not know the steps involved in pursuing a lawsuit. I believe many people think that once you bring forward a lawsuit there will be a trial with a jury and a decision will be made. But I am sure that many of them do not know the various intermediate steps that could be involved before you can get to a jury trial. It is important for the legal community to understand that it is critical to go the extra mile to make sure that the clients are well informed before deciding to proceed with the lawsuit.
How can a lay person be expected to know that several different kinds of motions can be brought forward in a civil case? I think it is extremely important for the legal community to understand that when it comes to providing information to prospective clients, overkill is much better than assuming that the clients would already know about some of these things. Specifically, it’s critical that the clients are made fully aware of ALL possible hurdles they might have to face.