Personal Injury

There are many reasons why people hesitate to file a lawsuit. They may be concerned about the costs of legal fees or how the stresses caused by the contentious process will affect their family. And oftentimes, women, people of color, and others who have long experienced bias in a myriad of forms simply don’t trust that they’ll be given a fair opportunity to seek a favorable outcome.

As an experienced black personal injury lawyer – including those who practice at Council & Associates, LLC – can confirm, these concerns are both understandable and valid. There is no question that both conscious and subconscious bias permeate the judicial branch of the government, just as they do all other American institutions.

Thankfully, attorneys who are skilled, knowledgeable, perceptive, and keenly aware of these biases understand how to combat them as effectively as they possibly can. As a result, it is important to think twice before dismissing your opportunity to seek justice and to seek any compensation to which you may be entitled out of concern that your case will be affected by bias-related challenges. Bias plays a role – often significantly – in legal proceedings but working with a reputable attorney can help to ensure that this force doesn’t negatively impact the outcome of your case.

Processing Your Concerns

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, it is possible for someone’s concern about bias to fuel the ways in which bias can affect the ins and outs of a case. This is not to say that anyone who is vulnerable to the consequences of bias should be blamed for their feelings about it. On the contrary. However, it is important to understand the ways in which response to bias-related concerns can affect the integrity of a case so that you can avoid the same kinds of missteps that have affected others.

Essentially, concerns about the ways in which one either may be or is being treated can lead to the need to vent or even to act out. Nowadays, a great deal of mental and emotional processing is done online. People speak their truth on YouTube and TikTok, post about it on Facebook and Instagram, and respond to similar concerns voiced by others on Twitter. It is critical that you refrain from processing your concerns in this highly-specific way until your case is resolved.

“Why?” you may be asking. “I want people to know what’s happening and I really need to talk about it too.” Talking with close loved ones, counselors, and other trusted people face-to-face or over the phone is more than okay. But anything you put in an email, in a text, or on any online platform could be used as evidence to fuel the biases that could be coloring your case now or could color it in the future.

You need to process your concerns. Shoving them aside is unhealthy. Just make sure to approach that processing in ways that can’t be used as evidence by opposing parties in ways that could undermine the likelihood of securing the favorable outcome you deserve.