When They Ask You to Lie

In my nearly thirty-seven years as legal counsel, I would estimate that easily a hundred times I was asked outright to lie on behalf of a client. Straight out. And many more times it was hinted.

There are two reasons I always refused.

First, the notion was abhorrent. It’s just plain wrong, all the time, every time. I have a working conscience.

But mostly it’s the knowledge that anyone who will ask you to lie on their behalf will have no hesitation to throw you under the bus should it suit them– or maybe just for fun. Having squeezed you like an orange, they will now refuse to pay your account and they will report you to the Law Society, leaving you alone under the stage lights.

People who see lying as just another handy tool are not the kind of people with whom you should associate. You will get burned, and there will be not be a thank-you. There’s never an upside, just a guaranteed downside. So steering clear of liars should be a no-brainer.

But here’s the real problem: today, being asked to lie is a casual part of everyday life. We live in a world where entire communities and political parties have casually made their bargains, celebrating and rewarding big, bold, bald-faced liars in exchange for a handful of tawdry rags. Western society is drowning in a bouillabaisse of bullshit.

So, what to do? Well, I can’t change the world, and neither can you, all by yourself. But I can carry a candle in my corner, and so can you. We begin by refusing to support a culture of dishonesty.

If the clerk gives you too much change, don’t just think it’s your lucky day– go back into the store and make it right. If you’re filling out an insurance claim, don’t bulk it up “because all the insurance companies are cheats”. And don’t laugh at racist or homophobic jokes, because they’re sniggering lies, too. Politely but firmly call out anyone who is telling you a lie or asking you to be complicit in theirs.

Because if you try to do simple, good things of that sort, you’re lighting a candle, and your kids and your colleagues and your neighbours will take note, and they’ll light candles, and maybe all together we can change the world.