Video Transcript

Well, the first thing it takes if the client is looking for someone to hire, is someone who has significant trial experience already. We all had our first case, and I remember those very vividly. I did much better than I thought I would do, but I wouldn't want to see a client entrust a significant trial to someone who's just beginning, any more than you would want to have heart surgery with a surgeon who's trying it for the first time. Not a good idea. You want someone who has a lot of energy. Why? Because there are aspects of trial work long before you get to trial and certainly through the time of trial that are hellishly difficult physically. You need to be in good shape, and you need to have a lot of energy. You need to be committed; you need to be tenacious.

And at the same time, as you are committed and tenaciously trying to achieve your client's goals, the great trial lawyers are always mindful of the rules of ethics and will not cross the line. Clients don't understand that in many cases; sophisticated clients do. Those that aren't so sophisticated don't worry about that. Great trial lawyers do worry about that. The rules of ethics, honesty, integrity, professionalism make a huge difference.

He or she is someone that the listener feels they can count on. They're going to tell the truth; they're going to be persuasive. I can rely on what this lawyer is saying. The great trial lawyer is a great analyst. The great trial lawyer can spot the strengths and weaknesses of a case after studying it enough to know enough to be able to do that and to be able to position the case so that it can be won or, in the worst case, not lost as badly as it might be because the strengths and weaknesses have been accounted for realistically, and that's all been discussed with the client long before a jury is picked, long before an opening statement, long before there's a trial.

The great trial lawyer is a great storyteller. The great trial lawyer knows how to make—I do business in commercial cases and intellectual property cases, those can be dull. They don't have to be dull. Drama can be injected into any case. You tell a story, non-fiction, not fiction, but you can make it interesting. You can breathe life into it, and a great trial lawyer knows how to do that, to captivate the audience.

The great trial lawyer has presence, personal presence in the courtroom. The best trial lawyers, without being offensive, take over the courtroom when they stand. They're always prepared; they tell the judge where we left off before the last recess was taken. There's just a very natural, easy way to do those kinds of things, to take command of the courtroom without being, at any time, overbearing.

The great trial lawyer, as I mentioned earlier, is empathetic. He or she can feel what the judge is feeling, what witnesses are feeling, what the jury is feeling, and just naturally connects with them and shapes his or her presentation in court.

The great trial lawyer is engaged in one of the most people-centric activities on the planet, so he or she can relate to judges, to juries, to witnesses, to opposing counsel, and especially to the most difficult witnesses who have to be cross-examined. And that gets to cross-examination. It has been called by many people the greatest engine for truth that was ever invented, and it is true. A great trial lawyer cannot be a great trial lawyer without being a great cross-examiner. It makes the difference between winning and losing, between success and failure.

The great trial lawyer is able to manage his or her own client. Clients come with their own personalities, their own baggage. We all have baggage, and the great trial lawyer needs to spot where potential problems are in light of his client's psychology or her client's psychology and manages that, works with the client so the client will be the best possible witness that the client is capable of being.

The great trial lawyer comes under pressure. He manages his anger, if he ever gets angry, nobody knows it. He manages his anxiety or she does. If he feels moments of anxiety, the great trial lawyer, under pressure, always knows what the path forward is, always never loses sight of where the path is going to take him, even as he or she remains flexible so that you can roll with the surprises of trial, and there always are surprises.

Lastly, the greatest trial lawyers are genuinely compassionate people, and they respect people without exception.