Bear with me please. I need to start with a bit of a recap as to how we deal with disputes.
There are three key requirements:
The first requirement is know-how.
We will bring our knowledge and research capabilities to the table. This is mostly on us.
The second requirement is an agreed strategy to get from A to B.
Although the best strategies are generally very easy to understand, they also have to take into account all the complexities of the situation, the people involved, and the law. It’s our job to come up with ideas. However, agreeing on a strategy is fundamentally a collaborative exercise. The strategy has to make sense both to you and to us.
At Lucas and Lucas, we have found that telling the story, and setting out the client’s side of the argument carefully in writing often goes a long way to resolve the problem. On one level, this is most obviously about getting to the heart of a matter in a way that cannot be ignored. However, it's more than that. It’s also about seeing in a very tangible way the strength of your own position. Seeing is believing.
The third requirement is the ‘partnership’ that must exist between the lawyer and the client for the purpose of resolving your problem.
In any genuine partnership, trust and confidence has to go both ways. Both parties must act honourably towards each other. Both must understand and know what they are doing, and why.
All this seems so easy right? So, what’s the catch?
Well, we have never yet had a client come to us with an ‘easy’ dispute. We listen. We look at the problem. We research. We arrive on a strategy, and there’s a sense of initial relief. So far so good. But then as we continue to journey together, hiccups will inevitably arise along the way.
Unfortunately, when it comes to disputes, difficulties are par for the course. And when they occur, it’s important to be able to go back to the agreed strategy, and reassess it objectively. This is something that builds resilience. Being well researched, and having the case set out helps too.
Why then is trust and confidence between you and your lawyer so important?
This is a topic we could talk about all day, but for now let’s restrict ourselves to just one issue. The truth is that the single most difficult thing for most people when the going gets tough during a dispute is mental fatigue. We are talking here about the difficulty of holding things together.
In our experience even clients with the best strategies will find themselves feeling stressed or uncomfortable at some stage. Disputes evoke these emotions. Mental resilience is not about avoiding discomfort. It is more about how one reacts to a stressful situation. A client who is ‘holding it together’ will retain the ability to see the other person’s point of view, and to trust.
The bottom line is that people are always tested in stressful situations. That’s why it’s important to build up ‘trust and confidence’ between you and your lawyer from the outset.
When the going gets tough, everyone must stay the course, stay objective, and stay together.