Kabbalah Amsal 18:17: Zohar

And he hastens to join man on the very day he is born, in order that man may come to believe in him, and that when the good prompter arrives later he may be loth to believe him and think him a burden. Similarly our teachers have defined a “cunning wicked man” to be one who comes first to the judge and pleads his cause before his opponent arrives; as Scripture says: “He that pleadeth his cause first seemeth just, etc.” (Prov. 18, 17).

Hence for a judge to receive the pleadings of one litigant in the absence of the other is like acknowledging strange gods. But the way of the righteous judge is to wait till “his neighbour cometh and searcheth him out” (Prov. 18, 17). Similarly the righteous man is he who does not put credence in the evil prompter, but first waits for the arrival of the good prompter. For neglecting to do this the sons of man will stumble in the world to come.