The only certainty about going to court, is uncertainty. If you go to court, you will never have a 100% chance of winning. Ever. Here’s why:
To have a 100% chance of winning, two circumstances would have to occur:
1. One party would have to be 100% right;
2. The judge would have to be 100% perfect and infallible.
The first of these circumstances, a party who is 100% right, is extremely rare, perhaps non-existent. Nearly every party to a lawsuit, has some weakness in his case, in either fact or law, and the weakness is significant enough that a fair, honest, and impartial judge could rule against him. Many parties, however, think that their case is 100% airtight. They are almost always wrong. Litigation is highly emotional, and in the midst of litigation, a party can get so “caught up” in the case, that he does not see the weaknesses in his case. I have been counsel in over 200 contested court cases, and I do not recall that I have never had a case where either party was 100% correct. The bottom line: If you think there are no weaknesses in your case, you’re likely wrong.
The second of these circumstances, a judge who is 100% perfect and infallible, is impossible. Judges are human beings, and, like all human beings, they make mistakes. So, even if you are 100% right (which you’re almost certainly not), the judge in your case may make a mistake, and you would still lose the case.
So, if you think you have a 100% chance of winning a court case, you are wrong. If your attorney tells you that you have a 100% chance of winning, that is a sign that you should get a new attorney.
And don’t take our word for it. Prof. Lincoln Caplan, of Yale Law School, says that the largest corporations (Fortune 500, Fortune 250) almost always choose private arbitration instead of going to state court. Unless these corporations absolutely have to go to state court, they stay out of the state courts, “because of their unpredictability.” Keep in mind, that, these corporations, are generally able to hire the best legal advice, so their attorneys likely know what they’re talking about when they tell their corporation clients to avoid going to court.
Watch the video below, to see the point in Prof. Caplan’s lecture (at 43:46) where he makes that statement.
Because of this unpredictability of the court system, the Persaud Law Office will never tell a client what his chances of winning are.
Comments