The above has become my everyday song towards clients as some have a tendency of thinking that their legal practitioner is not on their side.

During the first consultation with your legal practitioner, be it criminal, labor, civil matter or any other legal matter, you owe your legal practitioner the truth and nothing but the truth.

The procedure to be followed in a court of law is very formal legally speaking and should you as an accused and or witness, approach same informally so, you shall be baptized with fire. One of the most important factors the court takes into consideration when dealing with a matter, is the evidence of hand. The same legal practitioner gets hold of the evidence to be oral in any matter prior to the matter being heard and a consultation shall take place between yourself and him/her in that regard. In simple terms, there is no use being untruthful towards your legal practitioner as it will only be beneficial towards your case to be truthful from the first instance.

I once had a client of a criminal matter who was accused of theft. Upon our first consultation, she indicated that she did not do as alleged. A t a later stage the state provided us with a footage of the incident, and I subsequently consulted with the client regarding the footage and that is when she eventually confessed to the crime. At this stage of proceedings, the matter had already been set down for trial and the client had incurred legal fees. Had the client been truthful from the onset, I would have advised her to plead guilty and subsequently save her money and time.

In light of the above, it is very necessary not to mislead your legal practitioner by any means, in order to be properly advised.

After all, your legal practitioner is on your side.