A Lawyer can be useful if you do not know what you are doing.
However there are multiple disadvantages to hiring a lawyer.
And advantages to represent yourself.
Pro-Se gives you slack:
In Court as well as Arbitration it can sometime be an advantage to represent yourself.
For arbitration the rules are a lot more relaxed than in other legal matters.
The arbitrator, while not suppose to favor one side over the other, will probably be more lenient on you than on a lawyer.
The arbitrator is also more likely to consider the emotional component in your case. One of the things you want to do is appeal to the arbitrator as a human being; Not just a “Corporate case”. It’s a lot easier with a person defending their case than a lawyer.
The arbitrator is a person as well.
Take for example a case where someone got Cancer because….. at arbitration an arbitrator will see can see 2 lawyers stating their cases OR a lawyer and a Cancer patient. It is natural to have a more emotional response to a cancer patient than a corporate lawyer. Even if they are not suppose to it affects the arbitrator’s judgement.
It’s a toss up anyway:
So why pay a lot of money for someone to represent you.
Part of the reason why very few file for arbitration against Amazon is because of the cost. Represent yourself and keep your money. That you represent yourself or not at this point your chances are 50/50 so why pay 7K to 10K for no better chances.
Lawyers follow the laws and rules:
Sometime ignorance can be a blessing. Have you ever watch a tv show where they are in court and a lawyer says something they are not supposed to say; the opposite side objects and the judge tells the jury to ignore it but guess what people don’t ignore it it is in their head. This does not happen in real life. In real life lawyers are trained to follow rules.
But you are not trained and so especially in arbitration you can have a lot of lead-way.
For example in arbitration hearsay is possible. While arbitrators are trained to ignore these it also makes it possible for you to introduce a lot of hear-say to make your case.
Lawyers are paid by the hour:
Think about it. While lawyers are bound by their ethics to do the best they can for your case; they are paid by the hour. If your case is resolved in 5 minutes they are paid half of nothing.
So while they are bound by ethics they are also used to solving cases in ways that takes time.
While you and I would have a 5 minute conversation; argue; then come to an agreement; lawyers will send each other emails to plan for other emails and maybe a meeting on a day where they can call each other. This will cost you a lot of money.
Lawyers never answer directly:
Have you ever noticed that when you ask 3 questions to a lawyer they only answer 1?
I hate that of lawyers. It’s a professional deformation where as:
- They assume you know what they are talking about.
- They are paid by the 10 minutes so if you have to ask again then they get paid twice.
- They think you are not smart enough to understand.
Disclaimer:
I am not a Lawyer and this is not legal advises. Please hire a lawyer to seek legal advises.
This is my personal blog. The views expressed on these pages are mine alone and not those of my employer.
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