The Truth May Surprise You.

You may assume that the saying – The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth – only relates to criminal law.

So, it may surprise you that I’ve mentioned it, because you assume we only do civil law.

What may also surprise you is that actually, we do criminal law.

What may be even more surprising is that I didn’t have criminal law in mind.

Even in civil proceedings, this is an important statement.

It’s not just important to be honest. It’s important to give the whole story – you can be guilty/held accountable as much for keeping something back as for lying to the court or the other side.

If, for example, you are providing documents to the other side, you must provide EVERYTHING. Not just those documents which help your case. If you “accidentally” overlook something and it comes out at a later stage, you could be penalised on costs. It could also damage your case further, as it undermines your credibility.

In debt collection matters, you might be tempted to tell the other side that you can’t afford to pay, as a way of fobbing them off. If it’s a lie, it will undermine any defence you may have, but if it’s true, you’re effectively admitting that you’re trading insolvent. So, it won’t surprise you to learn that I’d be warning the client to be very VERY careful to make these allegations, and to think about what the long-term implications are of that admission.

But possibly the thing that will surprise you the most is that if you have lied, or withheld information, there is no end to when it could come back to bite you.  In a recent divorce case, a woman was looking to rely on a pre-nuptial agreement, entered between the parties some years previously. It was unsuccessful, because it was found that she had failed to give full, proper and honest financial disclosure to her now ex-husband as part of the pre-nup process.  She was also penalised on costs, which is very surprising in family proceedings, where costs orders are rarely made.

Oh, and you may also have been surprised that pre-nups can be upheld – most people assume that it’s only an American thing, and that a UK court wouldn’t take any notice of them. Whilst they are by no means a guarantee, Judges are likely to at least take them into account, provided they’ve been done fairly and properly.

Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full-service law firm. Boo! Hope that didn’t surprise you too much!