One of the most common questions that people ask when they are looking for a lawyer is whether or not they should tell the lawyer that they are guilty. They may have decided to plead not guilty, thinking that there is not enough evidence to convict them, even though they actually did the thing that they were charged with, whether it is as simple as speeding or as big as theft of an automobile. Even if they are innocent, they may want to know what to tell the lawyer just because this is new territory for them and they do not want to make a mistake that could come back to haunt them.
The reason that people wonder about this is that they are probably thinking of the police and the lawyers as one and the same. In reality, even though they both work on court cases, they are not the same at all. If you tell the police that you are guilty, that counts as a confession, and it could be enough to put you behind bars, no matter what the evidence suggests. People just do not want to accidentally make a confession to lawyer in case the same thing is true.
The truth, though, is that you should always tell your lawyer whether you are innocent or guilty. In fact, this might be the first thing that the lawyer asks you when he meets with you. Knowing where you stand in reality can help him set up the defence that you are both going to use when you are in court. If he knows that you did the crime, the defence could be far different than if he knows that you did not. If you lie to the lawyer, he may not be adequately able to protect you in court, and you could end up losing a case that you should never have lost.
You do not have to worry about the lawyer telling anyone what he knows about you and your guilt or innocence. There are laws that bind lawyers so that they are not allowed to expose their clients. These give you a solid level of protection. Even if the police come to the lawyer and demand to know the truth, he is fully within his rights to refuse to tell them anything at all. If you want to learn more about this, just check out primelawyers.com.au.