Most people arrive at a lawyer’s office with a description of their problem. Almost nobody arrives with an accurate one.
That is not a criticism. A dispute looks quite different from inside it, and the facts that matter legally are frequently not the facts that have caused the most distress. The purpose of the first consultation is to establish what the position actually is.
Bring the papers.
A view formed from a description is worth very little. The notice, the FIR, the summons, the sale deed, the jamabandi, the agreement, the correspondence — whatever exists, bring it, including the documents you think are unhelpful.
Cases turn on documents far more often than on arguments, and the paper that a client considers irrelevant is not infrequently the one that decides the matter. We would rather see everything and discard what does not assist than form a view on a partial file.
What the review involves.
We read the documents rather than glance at them. In a property matter that means examining the chain of title, the revenue entries, the mutations and the dates on which they were recorded, and whether an earlier round of litigation exists between the same parties. In a criminal matter it means the FIR, the sections invoked, the stage of the proceedings and what the record actually discloses.
Where a document is missing and can be obtained, we will tell you what it is and how it is obtained. Where the position cannot be assessed without it, we will say that rather than guess.
What you will be told.
What the law provides on the facts as they stand. What the evidence is likely to establish, which is a different question. What the realistic outcomes are and roughly what each involves in time. Whether the matter is better settled than fought. And whether there is anything urgent that should be done immediately, which in property matters there frequently is.
Where the answer is that the claim is weak, or that the limitation period has expired, or that the cost will exceed what can realistically be recovered, we will say so at that stage. That is the point of the consultation.
By whichever means suits you.
In person at Panchkula or at the chamber at Jagadhri, or by telephone or video call where you are not in India. Documents can be sent electronically in advance, which for clients abroad is usually the better arrangement — it means the first conversation begins from the file rather than from a description of it.
The first view costs nothing.
An initial consultation to understand the matter and tell you where you stand is without charge. You are entitled to know what you are getting into before you commit to it, and a client who has been given an honest assessment is in a better position whether or not they instruct us.
