Don't Lie To Your Attorney, Because You're Paying Them to Lie for You

[Kaodi]

The one thing I really remember my high school law class teacher telling us was, "Never talk to the police without a lawyer." That was probably in 2001 or 2002, before the reputation of police started really going downhill.

 

[FrogReaver]

Now can you make a thread about why you should always lie to your attorney.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

The one thing I really remember my high school law class teacher telling us was, "Never talk to the police without a lawyer." That was probably in 2001 or 2002, before the reputation of police started really going downhill.

That is always good advice. Most people think that they can talk their way out of situations; in fact, they are much more likely to talk their way into a situation.

 

[Deset Gled]

That was probably in 2001 or 2002, before the reputation of police started really going downhill.

 

[Gradine]

*In white America, I'm guessing

 

[Kaodi]

Were I not aware that different communities have had different feelings about the police the "really" would not have been necessary.

 

[The Sigil]

I was going to throw in another plug for "don't lie to your doctor or your attorney" but then I realized, it should be broader than that...

When you are paying someone for access to their subject matter expertise, you should not lie to them about anything material to the matter you are paying them to provide expertise on.

So I would argue it's okay to lie to your doctor about legal matters, just as you could lie to your attorney about how often you brush your teeth (as long as that is not material to the legal matter they are advising you on). But using the rule above, don't lie to your mechanic about when your car started to misbehave. Don't lie to your IT person about what you were doing when suddenly your computer started popping up "you've been pwned" messages. Don't lie to your personal chef about what foods you do or don't like to eat. Don't lie to your taxi driver about where you want to go or how big a hurry you are in.

The list could go on.

Once you start paying someone for their subject matter expertise, any material deception only worsens their ability to provide the service you're paying for... in other words, you paid for it, don't self-sabotage!

 

[Ryujin]

I was going to throw in another plug for "don't lie to your doctor or your attorney" but then I realized, it should be broader than that...

When you are paying someone for access to their subject matter expertise, you should not lie to them about anything material to the matter you are paying them to provide expertise on.

So I would argue it's okay to lie to your doctor about legal matters, just as you could lie to your attorney about how often you brush your teeth (as long as that is not material to the legal matter they are advising you on). But using the rule above, don't lie to your mechanic about when your car started to misbehave. Don't lie to your IT person about what you were doing when suddenly your computer started popping up "you've been pwned" messages. Don't lie to your personal chef about what foods you do or don't like to eat. Don't lie to your taxi driver about where you want to go or how big a hurry you are in.

The list could go on.

Once you start paying someone for their subject matter expertise, any material deception only worsens their ability to provide the service you're paying for... in other words, you paid for it, don't self-sabotage!

You have no idea how often I get, "My computer has been doing that for the last 3 weeks/6 months/from the moment that I got it" because people think that it will move them up the escalation list. It has the opposite effect. The longer you've lived with an issue, the less important we think it is for you to get it fixed.

 

[The Sigil]

You have no idea how often I get, "My computer has been doing that for the last 3 weeks/6 months/from the moment that I got it" because people think that it will move them up the escalation list. It has the opposite effect. The longer you've lived with an issue, the less important we think it is for you to get it fixed.

Having spent about a decade on the Service Desk (thankfully I've moved beyond that now) myself, I suspect I just might have an idea of how often you get that.

 

[Ryujin]

Having spent about a decade on the Service Desk (thankfully I've moved beyond that now) myself, I suspect I just might have an idea of how often you get that.

I was service manager for a couple of small/mid sized computer manufacturers and then managed to work my way into 25+ years of tier 2 (really 2.5) support in a large, faceless organization. It's almost a weekly thing.