As someone who is facing trouble with the law, you’re probably worried about fees or penalties you could face. Another aspect of your case to think about is how your reputation may be affected by an arrest, investigation or other aspect of the legal process.
Your reputation is important for many reasons. First, it’s how people know what to expect. If you’ve ever heard that someone’s reputation has proceeded them, it means that you can expect that a person’s negative reputation will get around the community and influence what others think of them.
Reputation matters
Reputation does matter. When you have a positive reputation, you may:
- Have better opportunities
- Have lower marketing costs if you have a business
- Be perceived positively by investors, friends and others
Unfortunately, it’s easy to ruin your reputation with a criminal case. Even if the case doesn’t go anywhere and you’re not charged or convicted, the fact that you were involved in the case at all could influence others’ perception of you.
What can you do to protect your reputation while dealing with a legal issue?
If you really want to protect your reputation, one of the things you can do is talk to your attorney early on in the case about minimizing media exposure. Avoiding the release of your name in the news or avoiding photographs being taken of you and being made public could be possible in some cases. Any incorrect news articles should be corrected, too.
You may also want to work with someone who can manage your reputation while this is happening. For example, if you have a secretary, you may ask that they don’t inform others about court dates or hearings and instead say you’re in a meeting. Keeping your case as private as possible will minimize the damage to your reputation.
Finally, if there is an opportunity to keep the case out of the court room, your attorney will discuss it with you. Courts are under public record, so if you have to go to trial, then that could be damaging to your reputation in a much greater way. Limiting public exposure is a good way to keep your reputation safe.