Clarifying what your objectives are in going to law can be very useful, both to you and to your lawyer.
Let us say for example that you are taking a case to court. What is it you are seeking to achieve by this? Is it that you want to win lots of money? Or is it simply that you want a judge to vindicate your stance? Or do you want notice to be taken so the thing that's happened to you won't happen to anybody else? These are different motives and each one might justify a different approach.
Even within each category however, and these are not even all the different categories, there can be different degrees of objective. For example, let's say you are suing somebody for £1m. Do you really want £1m or would you be happy with a mere £900,000? The answer to this question could have a great deal of bearing on how the case is conducted because very often it could be that getting that extra £100,000 costs more, at greater risk, than the pursuit of the whole of the initial £900,000. Equally sometimes you can take somebody to court and have them ordered to pay you £1m, but if what you really wanted was an apology you may very well still not get it if you are simply paid your £1m by the miscreants through gritted teeth.
The moral of the story is that you should be clear about your objectives and discuss them with your lawyer. The nature of your objectives can have an effect on how your case is handled and what it costs, and sometimes a little change in your objectives can end up either saving you a lot of money or else costing you a lot more.
The examples on this page are just imaginary for illustration. Your lawyer will advise you on the realities of your particular case.
