Mistakes People Make Before Calling A Lawyer
A few avoidable errors can close off your options before anyone advises you.
Most early mistakes are quiet ones. They come from waiting, signing or assuming.
What is the most common mistake?
Waiting too long, whether to see if things sort themselves out or out of uncertainty. The 60-day filing window keeps running the whole time.1
A second is signing a settlement or release before getting advice. A quick review costs little compared with giving up options you did not understand.
Which wrong assumptions cause trouble?
Some people assume a lawyer can attend and speak for them at conciliation. Solicitors are not permitted to represent parties there.2
Planning around that can leave you unprepared. Skipping a short first conversation, because your case feels too small or too tangled, is another way to miss gaps early.
Is asking friends and family enough?
Talking only to friends and family, however kind, is not the same as a read on your legal position. Their advice is rarely based on how the Industrial Relations Act actually works.
A short conversation with someone who handles these cases catches things that general advice misses.
What should you do instead?
Check your deadline now on the 60-day deadline calculator, however confident you feel. The employment lawyer page explains what a lawyer does and does not do.
For the stages ahead, read mistakes to avoid when filing a claim and mistakes to avoid at the Industrial Court.
If you want a lawyer to act for you, send your dismissal date and what happened. An independent employment lawyer can review the facts and reply about whether and how they can act.
If you have already taken some steps on your dismissal and want them checked, send the date and what happened. An independent employment lawyer can review them and take the claim forward if you have grounds.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.
Common questions
Is waiting too long a mistake?
Yes. The 60-day filing window keeps running while you wait, so contacting a lawyer sooner leaves more options open.
Is signing a settlement before advice a mistake?
It can be. A settlement paper can give up your right to claim, so a quick review before you sign is worth the short delay.
Is expecting a lawyer at conciliation a mistake?
Yes. Solicitors cannot represent you at that stage, so planning around a lawyer speaking for you is a wrong assumption.
Is handling everything alone a mistake?
Not always. But skipping even a short first conversation means missing gaps in your case while they are easiest to fix.
Sources
- An employee who considers they were dismissed without just cause or excuse may make a written representation to the Director General of Industrial Relations within 60 days of the dismissal Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
- Solicitors are not permitted to represent parties at conciliation before the Department of Industrial Relations; an employee attends and speaks for themselves Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
Keep reading
If you have already taken some steps on your dismissal and want them checked, send the date and what happened. An independent employment lawyer can review them and take the claim forward if you have grounds.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.