Shoot the Lawyer Twice.

Never outsource your case.

“You're trapped in a room with a tiger, a rattlesnake and a lawyer. You have a gun with two bullets. What should you do?

the answer is Shoot the lawyer. Twice.

This is what majority of the people will tell you who have hired a lawyer thinking this is another superman/woman clad in a black suit and will rescue me from the clutches of my problems. People with no interest in what the case is all about, generally males who look for a “quick fix” to their problems with a runaway attitude suffer at the hands of wife, system, as well as lawyer. As a marketing guy I was always taught to sell maximum, similarly, I understand that a lawyer too will sell a long lasting case to you.

Wives do have enough godfathers in terms of facilities by the state or in person that enables them to blindly outsource her case. But males are always at receiving end, they often get tempted to copy paste what their wives do in hiring a lawyer, without knowing that it’s an imbalanced war on the chessboard. Your complaint with respect to matrimonial dispute cannot be more than a NC with police, while hers similar complaint against you can be a cognizable offence, thus bringing you to a negotiation table out of fear for further blind legal carnage. In such cases lawyers too are out of scope of any help.

“Where can I get a good lawyer?”

This is one of the most frequently asked questions to me on the helpline. And my answer is “if you do not have the grip on your case then no lawyer is a good lawyer.” Your thorough home work is a must else you will fall in to this trap of outsourcing your case.

Lawyers are mere representatives.

We often confuse lawyers with courts and subconsciously think that they represent courts. Lawyers notice  is mere tactics of scaring, is often confused as courts' notice. Opposition Lawyer's call is attended with a lot of restraint and stress (well I am not telling to provoke the lawyer but one must know that the lawyer is no authority on your case or life). Never resign your confidence in front of the opposition lawyer or your lawyer as you know that they work for money and are mere service providers. But again do not outsource your core decisions to them. They have no authority to certify your divorce or marriage.

Lawyers in pre 498a.

Pre 498a: A HUGE chunk believes that if you file for a divorce case against your troubling spouse or give a lawyers notice then you are in the riding seat and will weaken her future cases against you. Well NO! the system has a perfect designed loophole that will allow your wife to make your life an Official MESS. (initially she was alone in harassing you, now she will have the system for making an early damage.Who cares about the case or conviction, the arrests are enough). It goes like this

1. You file a case or serve a lawyers notice

2. She suffers from a huge rejection feeling

3. She is unable to differentiate that your notice/case is civil NOT criminal

4. She now wants to teach you a lesson

5. She approaches the sleeping tiger (the system) and the executor is the lawyer.

6. She is advised to file for...

a. False 498a – Dowry (this will initiate the arrest of accused for investigation by police)

b. couple with false 406 – streedhan (the non bailable factor becomes stronger)

c. crpc 125 – monthly maintenance (so what if she is working, April fool hai na)

d. Domestic Violence Act (even duckworth lewis would not understand this hirnayakashaypu’s boon to surpanakha)

e. rest add ons may vary from case to case.

Moral : Husband cannot file for a divorce case that will give him divorce.

Who knows the law better? you or me?

Appointing a lawyer is a lot like choosing a partner. Its like if you have married in haste then you may have to repent at leisure. If your suggestion /discussions are blindly turned down by the lawyer, who like an abusive wife tells you his/her qualification on your queries, you are in for more trouble and hence don’t wait for tomorrow, rather change this lawyer as soon as yesterday.

I paid the lawyer advance money so now I will win the case as he/she will fight for me.

Interestingly in one of the SIF meetings I was handling this question and another fellow SIF Commando Amol Khar noticed and pitched in by saying “when we are employed in jobs we are first made to work for 30 days every month only then we are paid money, if we were paid advance we would not have been motivated to work for the rest of the month”. Similarly know what your lawyers had done and is going to do before you blindly pay. The rates beyond a point are proportional to your fear and ignorance. Keep a check on your case. Your clarity, involvement and monitoring will motivate him/her to perform.

Are you aware what rights you have in the system? What options you have in the system? How motivated are you to know your case? Unless you are not in control how will you know where your lawyer is taking you?

Hence appoint your lawyer who will be your team member and not a greedy guide who would take you for a ride in an unknown place and slap a fat bill.  For this thing to happen you too should be in total control of your case. You should know your case thoroughly with what charges are filed against you etc. All papers of complaints and relevant documents should be crystal clear. Surf the net and websites of Mens Movement in India with law implications so that you know what you can anticipate and what options you have.

And if you feel the heat and realize that there is no “fool proof facility for male to get rid of an abusive partner” then yes you too should join the movement of voluntarily helping others who are as dumb today as you were, before someone enlightened you for FREE, and work for changing the system.

To wind up there is another saying for lawyers which is "What do dinosaurs and decent lawyers have in common? They're both extinct." Well I would say you can appoint a Human who knows Law and for that you should be in control of your case and the relevant info so the lawyer remains un-tempted and human alive. 

Hope this helps. All the best.