The Benefits of Hiring a Lawyer Even Lindsay Lohan had a great lawyer and did jail time. Imagine if you did not know what facts the judge wanted to hear and made him or her angry because you decided to dictate what you thought they should know. Or, rather, what if you went to trial and the judge asked you to approach to give an offer of proof? Do you know what that is? Do you know that in Arizona, if you are representing yourself, you are held to the same standard as lawyers? Well, they are and the judge’s do not accept the excuse “I’m sorry your honor. I’m doing the best I can. I’m not a lawyer.” For the most part, there is no sympathy. Yes, you are expected to know what Rule 49 disclosure is and the deadline for same. You are expected to know how to draft a Joint Pretrial Statement. Can you do Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law? Do you want the judge to look at certain documents but you failed to provide them to the other side. Do you know, the judge will likely not look at them because they were not previously provided to the other side 30 days before trial? These are just some of the basics you need to accurately do to protect your interests.
Most often, people representing themselves feel like “the judge wasn’t fair!” Keep in mind its more of a reality that you just didn’t know the rules!