Lawyer Advising in Evidence Disclosure

Yeon-Koo Che, Columbia University
Sergei Severinov, Duke University

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Discussion Paper 0506-06

Abstract

In this paper we investigate how the advice that lawyers provide to their clients affects the disclosure of evidence and the outcome of adjudication, and how the adjudicator should allocate the burden of proof in light of the effect. Despite lawyers' expertise in assessing the evidence, their advice is found to have no effect on adjudication in a broad set of circumstances, if legal advice is costless and the lawyers follow undominated strategies in disclosure. A lawyer's advice can influence the outcome to his client's favor if he can credibly advise his client to suppress some favorable evidence. The effect is socially undesirable.