Communicating With Your Lawyer.

As your lawyer, we are here to advise you, guide you through the legal system and assist you to reach an outcome that is the best for you in your circumstances.

Here are some tips for communicating with your lawyer:

Be honest and open- As your lawyers, we have a duty to the Court and the administration. If you are not honest with us, it makes it difficult for us to do our job advising you and representing you. It is important for us that you are truthful with us and provide us with all the details we need to know, including those details you may not be so proud of.
Tell your story- As best you can, provide us with important dates and times. This makes it easier for us to understand your story and be able to assist you with the next step.
Provide all relevant documents- If you have documents that are relevant to your matter, be sure to provide them to us. This ensures that we have all the information and records to be able to assist you with your matter.
Keep us informed of your circumstances- If you have a matter with us, be sure to keep us up to date with your circumstances. For example, if you move house, change your phone number or if there has been a critical incident. This allows us to continue to assist you and provide you with the best advice for your circumstances.
Make sure you understand what is happening- If you are not sure what the next step is or don’t understand something related to your matter, please ask!
Contacting your lawyer- Your matter is of utmost importance to us as your lawyer. Please appreciate that we also help other people just like you with important matters and we are often in Court, in mediation or meeting with other clients. If you need to contact us, you can arrange a phone conference or Zoom conference with us at a time suitable to you. Alternatively, you can email us at any time and we can respond to any queries or concerns. Please remember that your lawyer receives many emails everyday and it is best to put all your concerns/queries in one email so that your lawyer can respond to you as soon as possible.

When you communicate with your lawyer, your communications are protected by ‘client legal privilege’. This means that as your lawyer, we cannot disclose any communications we have with you. The privilege only covers communications between you and your lawyer and does not cover any communications your partner, family member or another person may have with your lawyer.

There are exceptions to this rule, which include:

You clearly tell you to disclose this information- This can occur if you tell us to provide your details/information to a third party, such as a counsellor or a domestic violence support service.
You impliedly waive privilege – This can occur if you speak about or publish information discussed with us.
Situations where we are compelled by law to disclose information.
Situations where we disclose information to avoid the probable commission of serious offence- For example, if you tell us that you are going to commit a serious crime such as harming another person then we will need to disclose this information to the relevant authorities, such as the Police.
Situations where we disclose information to prevent a person suffering imminent serious physical injury- For example, if you tell us that you are going to seriously harm another person or yourself, then we will need to disclose this information to the relevant authorities such as the Police and Ambulance service.

If you have legal questions, Contact NLS Law Today.