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Rajiv1978   10 July 2017

Help needed because of lawyer issue

Hello All,

I have a few doubts to be cleared. I have reached final argument stage of my divorce case. My wife was crossed by my lawyer, and I was crossed by her lawyer. I had asked my lawyer to provide me her final affidavit (which included list of annexures) but this was delayed by him until the day my cross ocurred. I then noticed that her affidavit contained annexures which I had never seen before. They included a CD which contained voice recordings of mine, its respective transcriptt, a "marriage cd" (I only know of a marriage DVD, not cd). All of this was accepted by the judge and I was never asked to check or verify its contents. I was asked about these articles in my cross questioning and I answered that I had never seen of them. The judge told me that I was being irresponsible by not going through them. To not create a situation I listened to him without arguing. Now I have asked my lawyer for these annexures but he is not giving them to me and I am being told it takes a very long time to obtain from the court. He even told me that sometimes the court will simply refuse to give these annexures to me. The court dates are approaching fast and the judge is keen to start closing arguments now, as three years have been completed. My questions:

 

1. What can I do at this stage to get these annexures, and explain to court that they maybe fake and contain statements of mine which may incriminate me. 

2. Even if I do object to these annexures which I believe are fake, will the court listen to what I have to say since my cross questions are over?

3. The judge told me that i was irresposible by not going through these annexures (which i never received in first place), will this negatively affect my case?

 

Thanks in advance to all esteemed lawyers in this forum. i have been running from pillar to post for justice and this turn of events have put me in panic.



Learning

 5 Replies

Arjun Kohli   10 July 2017

1. A copy of these must have been served to you or your lawyer, though, at the time of their admission. If not, challenge it on that account. If yes but out of reach, your lawyer seems to be colluding with the other party(?) or even otherwise not serving you as one should. Ask your lawyer about the same. If however, it is still out of your reach, you could apply for the certified copies.

2. You would have to request the court to re-open the examination stage for your stance on the evidence. Make your lawyer find supporting judgments.

3. From the Judge's point of view, your lawyer is your representative and he is supposed to assume what he does, you're fully aware of it. You must be more prudent in this case as the loyalty of your lawyer seems misplaced.

You could definitely look out for other legal opinion and even change the counsel if you wish to but be careful as to the stage at which the matter is, it might get difficult with switching. Look up if something productive can be worked out with your current counsel, otherwise, switch and contest the case appropriately.

1 Like

Rajiv1978   10 July 2017

Thank you for the detailed reply, Mr Arjun. Much appreciated.

1. According to my lawyer, he holds onto his stand that it takes a lot of time to get certified copies,. He has conveyed to me that he is not interested in pursuing the case if I do not trust him. Since my cross went well and I denied having seen or received these articles in the annexure, I am hopeful to win the case. I don't know how these annexures will be used by the exwifes lawyer in argument stage to explain something which was never part of their written affidavit. Since my testimony was completely in the negative regarding these annexures, I am unsure if something I totally denied can be opened by the opposing lawyer. At this stage I don't think I can move lawyer because only final argument is left.

2. Would re-examination of the evidence that the wifes lawyer produced disqualify my testimony? It was with great difficulty that I passed their cross examination without falling into their trap, without much coaching from my lawyer, answering questions in my own way rather than being totally open as my lawyer advised me to. I do not wish to go through the ordeal of cross again, although my lawyer would want that to happen so that I can falter somewhere.

3. My lawyer wanted me to negotiate and at one point of time I agreed, but the amount asked by my ex wife was something I could not afford and I decided to opt out since the evidence on my side is overwhlemingly in my favour. I only hope that I can win the case witihout having to worry about seeing the contents of the annexure which my lawyer has hidden from me. 

Arjun Kohli   15 July 2017

Originally posted by : Rajiv1978
Thank you for the detailed reply, Mr Arjun. Much appreciated.

1. According to my lawyer, he holds onto his stand that it takes a lot of time to get certified copies,. He has conveyed to me that he is not interested in pursuing the case if I do not trust him. Since my cross went well and I denied having seen or received these articles in the annexure, I am hopeful to win the case. I don't know how these annexures will be used by the exwifes lawyer in argument stage to explain something which was never part of their written affidavit. Since my testimony was completely in the negative regarding these annexures, I am unsure if something I totally denied can be opened by the opposing lawyer. At this stage I don't think I can move lawyer because only final argument is left.

2. Would re-examination of the evidence that the wifes lawyer produced disqualify my testimony? It was with great difficulty that I passed their cross examination without falling into their trap, without much coaching from my lawyer, answering questions in my own way rather than being totally open as my lawyer advised me to. I do not wish to go through the ordeal of cross again, although my lawyer would want that to happen so that I can falter somewhere.

3. My lawyer wanted me to negotiate and at one point of time I agreed, but the amount asked by my ex wife was something I could not afford and I decided to opt out since the evidence on my side is overwhlemingly in my favour. I only hope that I can win the case witihout having to worry about seeing the contents of the annexure which my lawyer has hidden from me. 

Being unaware of the actual content and absolute facts of the case, also the limitation of online communication, I do agree that practically you do not have much of an option here. However, you say the Judge admitted the evidence and you or your lawyer didn't argue against it at the very stage of admission. Once an evidence is admitted, it has to count in the final decision.

The fact that you merely denied its existence but the judge admitted it nonetheless and now that you're unsure of what's in there is a pretty complicated scenario. We can only be hopeful that your lawyer is in a bona fide stance behind you and willing to actually succeed because only he can make a point relating all the proceedings in the case so far and get the value or relevance of concerned evidence nullified or reduced. Therefore, go ahead and back your lawyer up, tell him it was only reasonable on your part to be cautious and there's no need for bad blood between you, especially at this stage, if things are that bitter. If not, let it be and wait it out. If there's anything drastic that gets uncovered during the later stages of the matter, concerning your lawyer, then switch your advocate and deal with the matter appropriately.

1 Like

Rajiv1978   18 July 2017

Thanks again for the valuable input.

1 Like

Arjun Kohli   20 July 2017

You're welcome.


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