Five mistakes that will cost you dearly

Just one last look. One final review. That will help make you feel like this client letter or statement of claim is as thorough and complete as it can be, correct?

Perhaps. That approach works for some people but may not be ideal for you. You are always left wondering if you had done as much as you could. There are too many things to worry about—too many bases that need to be covered. Because as you know, it doesn’t take a major mishap to derail a matter. Any number of small yet critical errors could cost you, your firm, and your client.

Here are some examples of ways that little mistakes can cost you dearly—and ways to ensure they don’t happen.

1. You forgot a word

Short, ordinary little words like ’not’ can change the entire context of an everyday conversation. “I do want to go dinner with you” is very different than “I do not want to go to dinner with you”. Now imagine a similar type of error in a legal document—when you omit a single, but vital, word.

Perhaps you’re involved in a securities fraud case under the Fraud Act 2006. The crux of this claim is that the defendant “made a false representation dishonestly”. What happens when you accidentally drop the word ‘dishonestly’? This changes scenario, because the accused must know the statement they made was, or may be later, untrue or misleading. Omitting the word ‘dishonestly’ is key, and it could make or break this claim.

And even if it doesn’t entirely jeopardise your case, imagine the impression you just made with your client and opposing counsel. Prevent it from happening in the first place.

2. Case law that is no longer precedent

There is often one case that has been there for you through so many challenging client matters. The one you have always counted on. Unbeknownst to you, it was recently overruled or superseded by recent legislation. Now the case that has been a cornerstone for so many of your strategies for your clients is no longer good law.

Worse yet, you’ve cited it in your most recent statement of claim. It’s only a matter of time before opposing counsel finds this mistake. By not staying current and having the most recent information at your fingertips, you and your client could be in a difficult—if not impossible situation.

3. You didn’t review opposing counsel’s work well enough

You read their disclosure thoroughly. You checked all the cases they used to make sure it was all good law. You did what you always do. And up until recently, that was good enough.

But now, it’s not. Advances in legal research tech have made your current process an antiquated one. What you couldn’t uncover using traditional research methods was the most relevant law that opposing counsel chose not to include. Was it simply a mistake or oversight? Or did they intentionally exclude it? Had you known about this missing case law—you may have gleaned some additional insight into their strategy.

4. The ellipses that killed the case

It’s common to use ellipses in quotations as a way, essentially, to skip to the good stuff or drop the insignificant stuff. It is most often simply used to shorten a quote.

What happens if ellipses were used incorrectly? Most of the time, this would be a regrettable but benign mistake. Unfortunately, it could also be a strategic attempt to divert attention away from what lies between the dots.

No matter the origin of the incident, your client and opposing counsel will not be impressed.

5. The deadline was 1 November not 1 December

Some may consider missing a deadline an amateur’s mistake. However, it is quite easy for anyone to make this oversight. You’re busy. Your calendar always seems overbooked. Then on 2 November you realise what has happened and it’s too late. Not only is this bad for your client, but it’s also bad for business. You and your firm’s reputation are everything.

Get to the root cause of the mistake. Was there miscommunication? An error in records? No matter how it happened, finding a way to ensure it doesn’t happen again is crucial.

You can avoid making these small but costly errors

Whilst some of these mistakes can feel like one-off issues, some are not. Fortunately, advancements in legal technology can help you avoid many of the most perilous errors.

With the right upgrades, a few clicks, and a couple of minutes, you can bolster your confidence by eliminating the chance that you missed some minor detail that could wreak havoc for your client and your reputation.