Steve Palmer [00:00:00]:

Steve Palmer here with another episode of Lawyer Talk A and A. What is A and A? Well, that means question and answer, meaning I take legal questions. Now look, this isn't legal advice. So if you're relying on me for legal advice, please don't. It's not a legal advice type of segment, but it is a a question and answer. Meaning, I cover topics that that I think are pretty common questions, and I get them online. I get them at or on our, social media sites. I get them on YouTube.

Steve Palmer [00:00:24]:

I get them on Facebook. I get them on at lawyertalkpodcast.com, and I try to provide answers, to people's questions. And that's what I'm doing today, but I'm doing it a little bit differently. Here's what I'm doing today. I am taking a question that or maybe an issue that I encountered with a client who was calling me and who ended up hiring me for advice. And and here's what happens. I had a client who hired me on a case. It was a felony case.

Steve Palmer [00:00:49]:

It was a very serious felony case, and I sensed that my client was, let's just say, not telling me everything. And a question arose in my discussion with him because, look, after thirty years or so, almost thirty years, I've learned to sort of discern when people maybe are holding back. So eventually, my client asked me a question. Well, should I tell you everything? Should I tell my lawyer everything? Is really what he was asking. And it I think it raised a very interesting conversation, and, the answer, of course, is yes. You should. And there's a there's a reason why. First of all, my job is to protect my client and represent my client, argue for my client, be his advocate to the world, not only to the court, but as I'm representing folks, often I'm talking to the media, I'm talking to witnesses, I'm talking to police, I'm advocating on behalf of my client.

Steve Palmer [00:01:45]:

And as I always say, I can protect my client from everything I know about to the best of my ability. I can't protect my client from anything that I don't know about to the best of my ability. You see what I'm saying? So if I know there's a bad fact out there, I know my client did something that he's maybe ashamed of or doesn't wanna tell me or maybe he's just flat out guilty. Understand that if I don't know that information, if your lawyer doesn't know that information, then your lawyer can't protect you from it. So I always I I I'm not gonna comment on what other the criminal defense lawyers like, whatever criminal defense lawyers do, But I've always said I can protect you from the things I know about, and I can't protect you from the things I don't because I need to know. Now imagine a scenario. I'm standing in a courtroom making an argument to a judge or a jury, and I've made decisions incrementally all the way through my representation of a client. I have decided to call a certain witness or not call a certain witness.

Steve Palmer [00:02:41]:

I've decided to ask a certain question or hang my hat of the defense on a certain peg that I've put in the wall, a peg that I thought was solid. But it turns out because there was something I didn't know about that my client didn't tell me about, I hang my hat on that peg. I make that argument. I I I, I don't ask that question or I do ask that question, and then I get the surprise. I get my legs cut out from underneath me. And let me tell you how that feels as a lawyer. I feel like a moron. I I'm standing there, and I've if like, if anybody who's ever been involved in public speaking, maybe the closest thing would be is if you freeze in public and you don't know what to say and you start to sweat and shake, and next thing you know, like, the whole world's crashing in on you.

Steve Palmer [00:03:21]:

That's sort of how it feels. Like, the like, the floor in front of you is opening up. Now look. I can deal with it. I'm a grown man. I've been doing this for a long time, and I can handle that, because in the back of my head, I'm thinking, I didn't do this. My client did. And, you know, I I could have done something different if I had I have known.

Steve Palmer [00:03:41]:

Now that doesn't mean I don't care. It really hurts me because I do wanna represent my clients to the best of my ability, and I can't do that if I don't know everything. So my my point of this question, this topic rather, is when somebody talks to me, I like to know everything. I like to know those facts. So I don't get blindsided Because at the end of the day, my job is to protect my client. A lawyer's job is to protect the client and and advocate within the bounds of the law. I can't stand up and and let my client lie. I can't let my client, knowingly tell or perjure their testimony or things like that, but it's a lot more nuanced.

Steve Palmer [00:04:15]:

Sometimes they're just things that people are ashamed of, maybe how much they had they really had to drink or maybe where they were, right before they were stopped for OVI, and they don't tell me. And the prosecutor finds out about it, and I don't know about it. So these are the dangers of not having an open and honest communication with your lawyer. And this sort of spun off from the previous q and a we had about attorney client privilege. I I the things you tell me are privileged. I can't repeat them unless it helps you, unless I needed and even then, I I would have a conversation with you or my client about what, what I'm gonna do with certain information and strategize it. So we have when I work with my clients particularly that's going to be a trial, I try to build a trust relationship. I try to, you know, we we're a team.

Steve Palmer [00:04:58]:

We're we're going into court together. I'm the mouthpiece and and, but we're trying to go into court together. And when I don't have all the information, when I don't get all the facts or somebody's holding back, as much as you think it might help you, it probably doesn't. So, anyway, should I talk to my lawyer and be truthful and honest? Yes. You should. At least if you're talking to me, you should. That is Lawyer Talk A and A off the air, on the record, on the record, off the air, at least until now.