If you don’t know – SAY!
“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”
This is a cautionary tale in which I share a cringeworthy blunder I made during a tribunal hearing.
I was representing a Claimant in an employment tribunal case. I was newly qualified and was still very much “learning on the job”. I attended a preliminary hearing, although they were called Case Management Conferences then. (The fact that they’ve changed the name twice since then has annoyed me ever since. What was wrong with CMC?!)
Whilst I had thought I’d prepared, the Judge threw me a curveball and asked if I was bringing the claim under the Employment Rights Act 1996. The claim was for sex discrimination, and so CLEARLY the only acceptable answers should have either been:
No, Sir - it’s under section 1(1)(a) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (as it was then. It’s now the Equality Act 2010)
I don’t know.
Definitely NOT
c. Yes, Sir.
No prizes for guessing which one I went for.
I panicked and just said yes. Option c.
Technically, there WERE (and still are) some provisions relating to sex discrimination contained within the Employment Rights Act but these were limited.
I can’t remember exactly how the case panned out now – it was 20 years ago. But what did stick in my memory was the blind panic immediately after the hearing when I desperately flicked through Harvey (employment law book) to check that, yes, I had indeed got it completely wrong. I think I applied to amend afterwards to sort it out. I don’t think it led to anything seriously bad happening. But I kicked myself for not saying “I don’t know.”
So - don’t be me. If you don’t know something, SAY. You may feel stupid, but we can’t know everything. Plus, you can usually style it out by saying “If the Judge could allow me a minute to check that point” or similar. It’s FAR better to feel temporarily a bit dim, than have to apply to amend afterwards, or, worse, have to notify the insurers….ugh!
Anyway. Another lovely stroll down memory lane there. Saving junior lawyers from making fools of themselves, one email at a time! 🦸♀️
Enjoy your weekend when you get there.
Rachel