In litigation happy countries, yes, it does open you up but less so if you focus on technical facts pertaining to the job and not any personal issues. ... and,

In litigation happy countries, yes, it does open you up but less so if you focus on technical facts pertaining to the job and not any personal issues. ... and, yes, I know of a few cases where honesty was not the best policy. The circumstances were quite possibly valid where others would not have felt comfortable with the individual, and potentially cost the business money, but being honest at that stage was not doing anybody any favors. In technology, if you believe someone lacks x, y or z, to round out their skill set and you can articulate it without making it personal, I think the recipient will appreciate it - maybe not the same day as they were rejected, but it's always nice to get a perspective from an outside party. If you can't articulate the short comings then maybe focus on the good aspects and then use the generic not today, maybe in the near future kind of response... but you shouldn't ghost them.