Trial Tip: How to Become a Trial Lawyer

Want to become a trial lawyer? Stop settling every case.

In my recent Trial Alchemy™ podcast episode, outstanding defense attorney Chris Beeman, Esq. shared two pieces of advice for young lawyers who want to try cases.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁: 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹.

Ideally, find one in your own firm so you can learn by doing, following, and watching. Chris has been at the same firm his entire career. He watched his senior partner, an ABOTA member, and set a goal early: try enough cases to get into that organization himself.

If there's no mentor in your firm, find a lawyer whose courtroom presence you want to emulate. Study how they handle themselves. Learn from them however you can.

𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱: 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲.

This advice is especially for defense lawyers. Chris put it bluntly: if you want to be a trial lawyer, you have to put yourself in a position to try cases.

It's tempting to over-evaluate a case and recommend paying more money just to avoid trial. Institutional clients — corporations, insurance companies — are always thinking about the bottom line. And yes, it's easier to sleep at night when you're not in trial for seven or eight weeks.

But if you fold every time, you never get to trial. And if you never get to trial, you never become a trial lawyer.

Chris's advice: believe in your client, believe in yourself, and tell the client when you think you can get a good result in the courtroom. Don't shape every case toward settlement.

This is practical wisdom from someone who has tried over 100 cases to verdict.

Listen to the full episode of Trial Alchemy™ on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

#TrialAlchemy #CivilLitigation #TrialLaw

To listen to the entire podcast episode:
Click here to listen on my website.
To listen to the podcast on Spotify, click here.
To listen to the podcast on Apple, click here.
To watch and listen to the podcast on YouTube, click here.

Mediation, Arbitration & Referee Services

Monty McIntyre helps attorneys and their clients throughout California as a mediator, arbitrator and referee at ADR Services, Inc. He handle business, commercial, employment, insurance (bad faith, coverage, UIM), probate, real property, and tort cases. He has been a California civil trial lawyer since 1980, a member of ABOTA since 1995, has tried over 100 cases and he's represented both plaintiffs and defendants in the areas listed above. To schedule a new matter, please contact one of Monty's case managers at ADR services, Inc.:
Haward Cho, haward@adrservices.com, or
Rachael Boughan, rboughan@adrservices.com, (619) 233-1323.  

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Conduct a half-day or full-day private mediation with Monty McIntyre at ADR Services to get a free 1-year Individual Attorney subscription to California Case Summaries™ (with monthly, quarterly and annual case summaries, a $1,999 annual value). 

And, when one or more attorneys in a law firm conduct two half-day or two full-day private mediations in one calendar day with Monty McIntyre at ADR Services, the law firm will get a free 1-year Law Firm Unlimited subscription (letting the firm send summaries to every attorney or paralegal) to California Case Summaries™ (with monthly, quarterly and annual case summaries, a $6,500 annual value).
 
To schedule a mediation with Monty McIntyre at ADR Services, Inc., contact Monty's case managers:
Rachael Boughan, rboughan@adrservices.com, (619) 233-1323,
or Haward Cho, haward@adrservices.com, (213) 683-1600.

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To get free one-paragraph summaries of every new civil case published by the California Supreme Court in 2024, click here. 

Do well and be well.  

Best regards,
Monty A. McIntyre, Esq.
Mediator, Arbitrator & Referee at ADR Services, Inc.
Lawyer Mentoring™: Trial training and associate acceleration
Podcaster: Trial Alchemy™
Publisher: California Case Summaries™
CA Civil Trial Attorney Since 1980
ABOTA Member Since 1995
Past President San Diego County Bar Assn., SD ABOTA Chapter
Phone: (619) 990-4312.
Email: monty@montymcintyre.com