Complete disclosure of information during discovery is an important way to come to a settlement, but it is also important if you end up in trial. This was illustrated by the case of a client who failed to inform her lawyer that she had been denied a promotion at work because of her injuries, resulting in over $20,000 a year in lost income. She thought it would be better to "surprise" the insurance company with this information at trial.

However, because this client had failed to reveal this information in discovery, the defendant was able to prevent her from testifying about it at trial, because it had not had an opportunity to investigate that part of her claim. The judge ruled that because the information was not provided before trial, as required by the rules of discovery, it could not be presented to the jury.

This mistake by the client prevented her from recovering compensation for lost wages that totaled $400,000 over her lifetime. The client still won her lawsuit, but the judgment did not include any compensation for her lost future income. Not only could she have won more by disclosing this loss before trial, but she could also have increased her chances of settling the claim for a larger amount - without going to trial at all.