To All Aspiring Litigators - Get Thee To A Courtroom

Today it is tougher than ever for young aspiring litigators to get hands on in court experience.  More and more young litigators are becoming litigation partners having never tried a case let alone first chair it. 

Litigator used to mean trial lawyer, now it means litigator.  The Catch-22 of today's litigation environment - cases are so big the clients and the situations demand that senior lawyers handle the critical in court aspects of big cases, few cases are tried and little cases are even less likely to be tried.

It even afflicted my generation.  While my firm - a mid-size firm - took on smaller matters just so that we could get trial experience and I volunteered for any case that was likely to go to trial ( I tried a defective wood deck case,  a defective kitchen linoleum case etc.), most private  litigation associates - particularly those  in large firms  - got no trial experience.  Most of them didn't even get to take depositions until they were senior associates "let alone try cases.  As a result, many became "litigation" partners without ever trying a case.

It is even worse today.  Why?  Because now it is accepted in most firms that "litigation" partners may never try a case.  But this is a real deficit for anyone who is serious about being a litigator.  If you don't know how it is to actually try a case, you are at a distinct disadvantage as a litigator.

The best litigators prepare every case - even if they think that they are going to get it dismissed - with the assumption that it is going to be tried.  This approach causes one to shed the unnecessary and focus on the necessary.

But if you haven't tried cases then you don't have a clue about how to prepare a case for trial.  The two go hand in hand.

Those who have trial experience are going to be a rare breed and under the law of supply and demand, those of you who want to have a leg up on your competition should get thee to a courtroom.

If your current firm won't provide you with this experience, start looking for some place that will.  Those who do - who take the risk of forging their own career path - will achieve personal and professional autonomy while at the same time will have the confidence of knowing that they know the score when it comes to this thing called litigation.

 

Comments

[Document Retention]

i just went for the first time last week and it was a pretty cool experience. im sure it gets even more exciting and intense with bigger cases. good advice!
-Jessica

[Elliott]

In Florida, some civil firms have "loaned" their attorneys to the local prosecutors office. Both sides benefit: The attorneys get to pick juries, examine witnesses, etc., and the prosecutors office gets some extra hands on deck during a lean budget period. If you're looking for trial experience, you should check with your local prosecutor's or public defender's office to see if they'd be interested in a similar arrangement.

Best wishes,
-Elliott

Elliott Wilcox
http://www.TrialTheater.com

[JP]

Do you think it's a good idea for a young lawyer to work at a prosecutor's office or public defender's officer where they, presumably, will be able to get more trial experience than anywhere else in the first few years of their careers? Is this a good idea even if the person intends to eventually become a civil litigator? One of the big downsides to this route is that there are some significant differences between civil litigation and criminal litigation (for example, depositions) and, as such, while the young lawyer may get some experience trying cases (or generally being in a courtroom), he will be undeveloped in skills that may prove more valuable for the modern-day civil litigator.

[Publius Novus]

"Those who have trial experience are going to be a rare breed and under the law of supply and demand, those of you who want to have a leg up on your competition should get thee to a courtroom." Ah, Mr. Weltman, if only it were so. I have over 32 years of quality courtroom experience (DOJ civil trial & and state OAG). I have tried everything from $3k administrative cases to a $200mm+ jury case (win) to class actions to sophisticated criminal cases. No firm is interested because I have no portfolio and they did not train me. So much for experience.