People file lawsuits for a variety of reasons. Some of them are good and some of them are pretty bad. Today we're going to start a five part series. I'm going to give you the top five reasons not to file a lawsuit.
You are at Christmas dinner and Aunt Millie tells you how she just won so much money in a lawsuit because she was fired from her job. She sued her employer and she has just hit the gold mine, like the lottery, right? She says, "How's your job going?" You say to her, "Not so good, I'm having problems." She says, "You should sue. I did, it was easy. I made a lot of money. I think you should sue."
The number five reason not to sue is because somebody tells you that they had success in a similar care and encourage you to do the same under the gaze that you are going to make the same amount of money as they did.
Why is this the number five reason not to file a lawsuit? Because cases are very, very fact specific. A case may seem very similar to yours but there could be some factual or evidentiary issues that make the case completely different. So Aunt Millie's employment discrimination case could be very similar in a sense to yours but there are certain facts in Aunt Millie's case, testimony, and evidence that all worked in her favor that made it possible for her to recover.
You could have a case with similar facts and then something happens during the discovery process. Something happens because a document is produced or there's a company policy that was in effect that wasn't present in Aunt Millie's case. Just because Aunt Millie was successful in her lawsuit doesn't mean that you will be. If you think that you have a case or claim, go see a lawyer. Go talk to somebody that actually knows because I'm sure Aunt Millie is a great conversationalist. You probably have a lot of fun with her on Christmas and summer barbecues but Aunt Millie is not a lawyer. She doesn't know how to look at the specific facts of a case and say look, this is something that might be a problem. She also can't analyze as the case moves forward whether or not a piece of evidence or testimony is going to change the direction or outcome of your case.
If you have a potential claim or you believe you have one it's worth your time to go find a lawyer, sit down with him or her, show them your evidence, your documents, a timeline of what happened. Explain to them why you think you should be able to recover. Let them tell you whether or not you have a good case and what the likelihood of success is. Remember an attorney is not going to guarantee you a positive or successful outcome. They also can't pinpoint exactly what your going to recover. A seasoned attorney can give you an estimate or a guesstimate, if you will, a range of what you might be able to recover. Not Aunt Millie. While her stories are fun don't take her advice to heart. Go see an attorney for yourself and find out whether or not your case is going to be as successful as hers.
That's going to do it for number five. Stay tuned for Number 4. If you have any questions about this post or any other questions please feel free to give me a call at 973-949-3770 or email me at pl@pjlesq.com.