Neat Lawyer Trick I Just Learned....

[Matt "Gumby" Glach]

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[Tyler Timmermans]

i liked the advice because chances are some asshole will try and sue you in the US cause there soft.

[bobby rivers]

"when you get out of the car and confront the other person, you should say clearly and loudly "This accident was clearly your fault!" (even if it was probably your fault)"

Morally superior? Look, it's probably just how you worded it but dont get defensive. My mom , the sweetest lady in the world, got fucked in such a manner and now she has to seriously delay retirement.

Please keep posting just so we can recognize and defend when someones tryin to work the system.

[Jason Hyatt]

It is still admitted into evidence as an admission by the other party. The trier of fact (usually the jury, not the judge) is then forced to factor in that admission when weighing who they think is at fault. It's not a guarantee, nothing in court is, but it's an advantage that, your presence of mind at the scene, combined with your lawyer's proper use of that piece of evidence, can help you to win a case in which fault could essentially be construed either way.

It seems that the members of this forum would prefer to berate me for being a "scum bag lawyer" rather than embrace the piece of knowledge I'm merely sharing with the masses. It was just something I found interesting while studying, I'm not advocating a "screw over whoever you can as long as you win" mindset, but like I said before, that IS how the court system in America works. Part of why I don't plan on practicing law is because I don't want to be a part of the cutthroat, "win at all costs", "screw over whoever you have to" system, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to absorb every bit of strategy I can while I'm here in school.

Ignorance breeds bad outcomes, always, so if you consider yourself too scrupulous to ever employ such a manipulative tactic then so be it, but it's still important to know that this is how the system works, if for nothing else, so you don't get screwed by someone else using this strategy. So yea, I don't really appreciate all the denigration, but I guess it comes with the territory and I'll have to get used to it if I want to put J.D. after my name. In the future, I will be sure to only post lawyer tricks that are honest and wholesome so as not to offend the morally superior members of the forum.

For the record, Matt, I harbor no ill will toward you. I know of no law student alive responsible for the way our judicial system operates. The reason my ex told me and everybody she knew about the "It's clearly your fault" trick was for the same reason you did -- somebody else probably knows that trick too and if you don't, they can use it against you. Gotta know those counters in BJJ and in life.

[Juan Santiago]

going to put that in the memory bank, and use it if needed

[Matt "Gumby" Glach]

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[aeg383]

meh...who takes legal advice from a jit jitsu forum anyway? If I need legal advice, I'll just Google "good Jew lawyer"...No offense meant to the Chosen People. L'Chayim!

[Jon Watkins]

Lol guess I won't share anymore. For the record, I don't plan on practicing law, just in law school to open doors that wouldn't be there without having a JD. I do hate the court system in America and clearly it is FULL of flaws and loopholes, but in court, if you're not screwing someone over, you're probably the one getting screwed, that's just how it is. Personally, I'd rather not be the one getting screwed.

Don't listen to em, Matt. I want to learn more lawyer tricks. I don't drive a car so the last one doesn't apply to me.

[Shapiro]

After trying out this "trick," please enjoy having a great time getting grilled by the opposing party's counsel in deposition about your knowledge of the law and your reasons for making such a contrived statement, and then facing the prospect of having to either perjure yourself or admit you are a cynical bastard who was trying to set up the other party for a fall. The jury will REALLY be on your side then. Almost no car accident cases go to trial anyway, and liability is determined by longstanding tort rules rather than mind games about whether the parties believed themselves to be guilty.

[Shapiro]

If you plan to try this trick, please get ready to raked over the coals by opposing counsel about your knowledge of the law and why the first statement out of your mouth after a dangerous accident (and presumably one in which at least one of the parties was seriously injured, since a lawsuit resulted) was "admit it's your fault!" or something of the kind. That line of questioning will either lead you to perjure yourself or to reveal that you are a cynical lawsuit-junky...which judges and juries always smile upon, of course. Also, if you are a law student posting such litigious advice on a public forum under your own name and image, have fun when it comes time to apply to your state bar for a moral character determination.