Post by TEK KIT PANG

UNDEFEATED LAWYERS DO NOT EXIST A few days ago, I heard someone say that a certain lawyer, let’s call him XYZ, has never lost a case. It is worth pausing to ask how far such a statement can truly be said to be accurate. More often than not, no one in the world can win cases all the time. Litigation, by its very nature, is uncertain. If anyone proclaims that a particular lawyer has never lost a case, that claim is, at best, misleading and, at worst, plainly untrue. The reasons are simple. First, no lawyer controls all the variables in a case. Judges differ, facts evolve, witnesses falter, and the law itself is open to interpretation. Second, many cases turn not on brilliance or effort, but on evidence, sometimes evidence that is incomplete, unfavourable, or entirely beyond counsel’s control. Third, experienced lawyers often take on difficult, unpopular, or seemingly hopeless cases. XYZ who claims never to have lost may simply be one who avoids hard cases, rather than one who is truly competent. In truth, losing a case does not define a lawyer’s ability; refusing to fight challenging cases does. The mark of a good lawyer is not an unbroken record, but the courage to stand for a client even when the odds are poor, and the honesty to acknowledge that in law, as in life, no one wins every battle. Messrs. TK Pang / 冯德杰律师事务所