How Do You Ask a Lawyer?

During my career, I received thousands of questions from clients, friends, and people who asked and went, some face to face, some by phone, and most of these questions were received through websites and social media applications. From this experience, I concluded 25 observations regarding the ways of asking a lawyer, and I believe that taking these observations by the questioner may help him to receive the correct diagnosis, and thus obtain a correct road map that will lead him to get his right, or that others are demanding of him. Perhaps asking the lawyer face to face, or through a telephone conversation, will cause misunderstandings less, because the lawyer will ask the questioner for direct clarifications that will help him understand the situation, but this advantage is not available in a written question, because the discussion is a question and answer, and if the question is not accurate, The answer will not be correct. Because I am an Emirati lawyer and work in the Emirates, these comments will be for those who ask about laws and issues in the Emirates.

After this introduction, which I apologize for its length, these are my remarks regarding how to ask a lawyer:

(1) Explain in your question where the problem occurred, because the law that applies to a problem that occurred in one emirate may differ from the law that applies to a problem that occurred in another emirate, especially in a country with a federal system like the Emirates, as this system gives each emirate: (Abu Dhabi The capital, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah) the right to issue its laws that do not apply outside its borders. There are federal laws that apply to all of the Emirates, such as the penal law, the personal status law, and the labor law, and there are local laws that apply only in the emirate that issued them, such as the rental law. There are at least seven rental laws in the Emirates, and they differ from each other in this or that issue.

(2) The percentage of non-citizens in the Emirates reaches 90% of the population, and therefore out of every 10 people who ask a lawyer in the Emirates, 9 of them belong to countries that have laws that are slightly or very different from the laws of the Emirates. This means that the non-Emirati questioner should not explain the answers according to the laws of his country, or compare the lawyer's answer with the answer he may know about the laws of his country.

(3) There is no such thing as a specialized lawyer in the Emirati legal system, as there may be in other countries. In the Emirates, there is no divorce lawyer, criminal lawyer, or immigration lawyer. A lawyer may specialize on his own in a specific field, but the law does not require him to specialize in a new field. Therefore, if the questioner is non-Emirati, and belongs to a country where lawyers specialize by law in specific fields, he should not expect that lawyers in the UAE are also specialists by law in specific fields.

(4) some matters are within the work of the lawyer, and therefore it is assumed that he is knowledgeable about them, and there are matters that, although they are legal, are not within the work of the lawyer, and therefore the assumption that he is knowledgeable about them is incorrect, as he may know them from his experience, or he may have no knowledge of them. For example: An employee wants to resign from his job, so he asks about the method of resignation, the date of its submission, and his duties during the period from resigning to accepting it. He also asks, if he is a non-Emirati, about the work visa, residency, etc. The question about resignation is a purely legal matter, while the question about visa and residency, although it has a legal aspect, is essentially an administrative matter. The lawyer is specialized in the law, not in administrative procedures, which he may or may not know. In short: Any matter or procedure that concerns the police, the Public Prosecution, or the court are matters and procedures that fall within the duties of the lawyer, and it is assumed that he knows them. As for matters and procedures that concern others other than the police, the prosecution, and the court, they are mostly not part of his work duties.

(5) It is not correct to ask a lawyer about how to abuse the law to evade fulfilling rights and the implementation of obligations. The lawyer is bound in his work by honor, honesty, and the pursuit of justice and the rule of law. Yes, a lawyer may provide legal assistance to someone whose opponent demands that he fulfill a right or carry out an obligation, but he may not help him evade fulfilling the right and implementing the obligation.

(6) Some people prefer to use short words in the English language, and these short words are of two types: a type that is common to everyone, and a type that is common within specific fields. An example of abbreviated words that everyone knows is the phrase: “frequently asked questions” and is written abbreviated like this: (FAQ). As for the second type, they are short words used among engineers, doctors, lawyers, administrative employees, or university students, and people outside these specializations may not know their meaning. Therefore, the questioner needs to remember, if he is an engineer, for example, that he is asking a lawyer and not an engineer like him.

(7) Mention when the problem occurred, because one of the most important pillars of the law is the stability of positions, and the law does not allow people’s positions to remain unstable indefinitely, and therefore the law came up with the idea of “limitation.” For example, a person asks about a medical error. It is important for him to mention in his question when that error occurred because a claim for compensation for a medical error is not accepted after three years after it occurred.

(8) Specify who you are in the question. I do not specifically mean that the questioner reveals his personal identity, but rather specifies who he is as an opponent or party, because the answer given to the plaintiff to a question may differ from the answer given to the defendant to the same question.

(9) Avoid mentioning the names of people, companies, or institutions, in case you are the opponent. If you believe that the bank employee has defrauded you, and you are about to file a lawsuit against him or the bank, there is no need to mention his name or the name of the bank, because the question may fall within the realm of defamation, especially if the question is posted on a website that others can view. When you ask such a question, you are not only putting yourself into trouble, but also the lawyer might be in trouble if he answers your question, and this is a mistake that lawyers are not supposed to make.

(10) Ask a legal question, not a question about a humanitarian situation. For example, someone asks: I lost my job, stopped paying loan installments, the bank filed a case against me, and the court issued a judgment on me to pay the amount, but I have nothing, and I cannot pay even in installments. Despite all the human sympathy for those who are in such a situation, the lawyer will not have any legal answer, because the only legal answer is: “Face your fate,” and it is unacceptable for the lawyer to respond in this way because he will appear to be merciless.

(11) Ask a legal question, not an educational question, such as a father who asks a question about how to deal with his teenage son who does not listen to him and goes out with bad friends. The legal question in this father's case might be: If my teenage son's bad friends were involved in a crime, and my son was with them, would he be held responsible even though he did nothing wrong and was just standing with them?

(12) Ask and do not tell a story, because the story may have many legal aspects, and the lawyer will not answer all aspects of the whole story, but rather a specific point in the story, which is the point for which you are looking for an answer.

(13) Ask directly about the issue you want to know. If you want to know the procedures for registering a patent, for example, do not ask about the law’s opinion on patents, because the law’s opinion is very detailed in patents, while patent registration is a very specific topic.

(14) Do not ask whether your opponent can do this or not, but rather ask what the law says if he does such. For example: Do not ask: Can my employer terminate me from work if he assigns me work outside the scope of my duties under the employment contract? Rather, I ask: Does he have the legal right to terminate me from work in such a situation? Do not ask: Can my husband prevent me from going to work? Rather: Does my husband have the right to prevent me from going to work?

(15) Mention the value of the claim in the financial claims and compensation cases, because the legal cost of the claim may be greater than the financial claim itself, and the lawyer will give a legal answer. If he knows the value of the claim, he may suggest other, less expensive solutions to you.

(16) The law is not a mathematical issue, and one plus one equals two. Rather, it has a lot of room for diligence and discretion, and it is very possible to ask a question to two lawyers and get two different answers. For example, in slander cases, one lawyer may find that a slur does not contain any insult, and another lawyer may find that it does contain an insult, and thus constitutes a slander crime. The differences between lawyers should not surprise you too much.

(17) Do not constitute your question on your personal narrative of facts, especially in criminal cases. For example, you were accused of attempting to steal glasses from an optical store, and the Public Prosecution found that there was sufficient evidence for that accusation, and the court saw that the evidence was sufficient, and a ruling was issued to convict you. The question is not in this form: A conviction was issued against me by the court of first instance for attempted theft, even though I never did that. On what basis shall I appeal the ruling? Rather, your question shall be as: I was accused of attempted theft based on video footage, fingerprints, and witness statements, but indeed, I did not attempt to steal the glasses, but rather I wore them in the store to try them on, then I was busy talking on the mobile phone, and I left the store without realizing that I was wearing them. On what basis shall I appeal the ruling?

(18) Because the simplified definition of the crime is: committing an act that the law orders not to do, or/and abstaining from an act that the law orders to do, so be careful in criminal questions to clarify the act accurately. For example, it is not enough to say that my boss is “torturing me,” because the law does not recognize the act of “torture,” but rather acts such as: hitting, pushing, and restraining. It is not enough to say that a co-worker “insulted” me, because the law does not define “insult,” but rather slander, and accurately mention the phrases that the co-worker said.

(19) Stay away from the metaphor in your question, and instead of saying that your employer threw you behind the sun, meaning that he moved your workplace to another branch of the company located in a place far from your home, say clearly that he moved you from this place to this place, because there is no provision in the Labor law regarding throwing an employee behind the sun. Also, avoid giving proverbs and using famous sayings in your question, especially since the lawyer you are asking often does not belong to the culture from which those proverbs and sayings emerged, and he may not know their meaning, and give the wrong answer because he did not understand the meaning.

(20) There is no point in asking about the expected ruling in the case you are asking about, especially if the case is still in the court, because you are asking lawyers, and not asking the judge who will issue the judgment, and these lawyers are not familiar with all the details of the case, and perhaps a small detail that you think is not important, and you did not mention it in your question, that affects the judge’s ruling. Also, obtaining an expected ruling in your favor will raise your hopes, and then you may be surprised by a different outcome that will destroy your hopes. Also receiving an expected ruling against you will create fear in you, and you will sit nervously waiting for the ruling, and then you will be surprised by a ruling in your favor.

(21) In the question related to a dispute between a married couple, or a dispute between a father and his son, the answer would be misleading if it was limited to the legal opinion, because the dispute is not between strangers or companies, but rather between people living in one house, sleeping in one bed, and there are other people whom their lives are affected by what happens between the two parties. To illustrate the idea, suppose a married woman asked a lawyer the following question: My husband is neglecting his duties and does not support the family, so what should I do? The lawyer may understand from this question that the woman is requesting a divorce because the husband is neglectful and does not spend maintenance. He may understand from the question that the woman wants to continue living with that husband but on the condition of supporting the family. A girl may ask a lawyer that her father refuses to marry her to someone she loves, and the lawyer tells her that she has the right to file a lawsuit against her father in court, and this is the legal answer, but this answer does not take into account that the girl lives with that father in the same house, and that he may take revenge on her as soon as the court announces that there is a case against him filed by his daughter. Therefore, it is important that anyone who asks about legal matters that have family dimensions does not limit himself to the legal answer, and must think about other dimensions before taking any legal step.

(22) Do not be satisfied with an answer from one lawyer only about an issue that has multiple aspects, because whoever you ask may pay attention to a specific point and respond to it, and leave out the rest of the points, especially since he is a volunteering lawyer who responds to consultations without compensation, because the questioner did not contract with that lawyer to represent him in the matter, and all there is just a question and an answer.

(23) It is preferable not to consider the lawyer’s answer sufficient to take legal steps. When you ask the lawyer this question: I was physically injured as a result of a car accident. Do I have the right to request compensation from the insurance company that insured the car that caused the accident? The answer will be as follows: Yes, you have the right to request compensation for the injury from the insurance company. Based on this answer, you may file a civil lawsuit in court against the insurance company. You will be surprised by the ruling: “rejection of the case”. Because any lawsuit against an insurance company must be preceded by filing a claim with the Insurance Authority, and not filing the lawsuit directly before the court. The lawyer who answered your question in this way was not in a hurry in his response, and he was not intentionally misleading you, but he wrote an answer based on a specific question, and he may not have expected that you would get his answer and go out immediately to file the case, and perhaps he expected that you would appoint a lawyer to file the case, and perhaps he expected that you knew some legal issues and there was no need to mention them to you. What I would like to clarify is that you are supposed to consider the lawyer’s answer to your question merely as a guide to the road that you should take, but his answer does not include the fees imposed on using that road, the speed limit for the road, nor the traffic lights on the road, the road works that may exist in that road, nor the side roads that may exist in the road.

(24) You mustn't consider the lawyer on legal websites and social applications as your lawyer whom you appointed under a legal power of attorney, signed an agreement with him, and paid his fees. The lawyer you appoint and pay him fees is supposed to represent you as if he were you and serve you to the best extent. He is considered to be in breach of his obligation if he does not exercise full due diligence in serving you. While the lawyer on websites and applications is a volunteering lawyer, he likes to share his knowledge and experience with others, and he is not obligated to do anything. Therefore, always remember that the legal answers you get on websites and applications are not final.

(25) If you entered into a contract with a lawyer, and he is representing you in a case, it is best not to ask other lawyers on websites and mobile applications about the way your lawyer works, his approach to defense, or the opinions and suggestions he presented to you, because the other lawyer does not know all the details. He did not read all the papers, and he was not involved from the beginning. His answer regarding your lawyer will be either wrong, unfair, or even intended to cancel your contract with your lawyer, to appoint him. Lawyers are not angels.

Written By:

Ahmed Amiri | Amiri Advocates & Legal Consultants