Nothing stops litigation like the... TRUTH

Litigation, by its very nature, involves at least 2 parties. That means there are 2 parties who hold different points of view, view the facts from different perspectives, and have different understanding about right and wrong. But is that always the case?

Sure, there are times when there is a genuine misunderstanding. But many times, parties merely re-furbish the facts in order to suit their own explanations. Facts are massaged in order to make a particular party to look better than reality.

Why would any party do so? Why, to avoid liability, of course. But think again. By massaging the facts, are you not compelling the other party to pursue you even the more? Would your massaged facts hold up in a Court of law? Would the fees paid for the litigation process justify the effort? Can you defend your massaged facts comfortably (and through different witnesses)?

A counter-intuitive approach is to come clean from the start. When someone makes a demand, come clean with the absolute truth. The litigators say, Whoa! That's inviting liability. But then, would you be avoiding the liability by becoming defensive?

Instead of inviting liability (which already pre-exists anyway), coming clean may be a way of minimising the liability. The aggrieved party feels emotionally satisfied. Facts can be relayed as is. The sense of integrity displayed within the company remains high. Parties can then look at the damage in a detached manner, and seek the best ways to resolve it. Only in the rarest of occasions would the person wronged want to demand for every ounce of blood. Even they would oftentimes want a resolution to the problem as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

Counter-intuitive? Definitely. Leads to more lawsuit and liability? Perhaps not. Give it a try in an appropriate case. I have tried it for some of my clients who are open to the suggestion, and it has worked wonderfully. I would love to hear the responses you get.

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Drop me a line at khenghoe@mycounsel.com.my.