The example sentence above was decided upon by the court and it was also used by the judge to show the importance of taking the right action at the right time. A common outcome of taking the advice of a lawyer who often recommends people to lie on examinations is the finding that the person later found guilty of withholding relevant facts is now facing severe penalties for his crime. If such a person had simply taken the advice then the penalties would have been reduced or the charges could have been dismissed.
We have just used an example sentence from a legal context. The point I am trying to make is that by using example sentences in legal writing you are not just creating a fancy word for lying but you are also giving the readers a clear understanding of the concept behind it. The last thing any lawyer wants is for his client to be caught out with regards to any attempt to conceal relevant facts on a legal examination. That makes any lawyer a bad client. It also makes for an unworkable case.
There are two ways of finding out whether a person is telling the truth. One is to ask him; the second is to ask him why he is doing it. An example will usually do the trick! If you have a client who is planning to obstruct your case, one way to find out whether he is telling you the truth is to ask him. If he tells you the truth, then you can proceed to the next stage.
The second method is more problematic. To do this you must be able to take someone’s word at face value. Sometimes people will tell you something without even thinking about it. Once you get them to say something it will feel a little strange, and you will wonder whether you have made a mistake. If this happens do not take the fact as being true, take into consideration their motives for saying it. You might just find a hidden fact which completely change the whole meaning of the example sentence!
Another problem often occurs when witnesses are called to give evidence at trials. The witness is asked: “When was the last time you saw Mr. X?”. If the witness was a friend of X’s, it might seem perfectly natural for them to say they saw the man the day before. Unfortunately this is not always the case. The witness might have been asked about a particular incident which makes it very difficult to take their testimony on face value.
The third method, which I shall mention is preparation. I have seen many cases in which the defendants or their lawyers never bothered to get the necessary paperwork ready. When they go to court, they simply do not have enough examples to use in their opening or closing arguments. Preparation will take care of this problem.
The last tip is one that is almost as obvious as the other three. It is this: think before you use an example sentence! Even if it seems simple to you, do not use an example sentence in your argument unless you thoroughly understand it. Even if you think it sounds good on paper, it may not be in your hand when you have to argue it in court. For this reason do not use it unless you can back up your claims with concrete examples.
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