Ten rules for being a good trial lawyer

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Paul Luvera| Leave a comment

Print
Email
Share
Republish
1. HONESTY IS ALWAYS THE BEST POLICY You must be always be honest with
others and especially with yourself You must be willin! to face the truth even when it
hurts "his commandment is especially true in presentin! a client#s case to a $ury %ll
people are e&uipped with internal detectors about lies and when youput a !roup to!ether
their collective ability is even more sensitive to falsehood 'cripture teaches us this fact
("he man of inte!rity wal)s securely, but he who ta)es croo)ed paths will be found out *
+Proverbs 10,-.and (You shall )now the truth and the truth shall ma)e you free* +/ohn
0,12.
2. ETHICAL ISS!ES A"E SI#PLE$ ALWAYS %O THE "I&HT THIN& When you
stop to honestly e2amine issues that arise in your law practice you will find that you
inherently )now what the ri!ht thin! is you should do 3ut, we are tempted by the human
frailties of !reed, pride, power and the li)e to rationali4e and $ustify "he problem is that
when we don#t do the ri!ht thin! it has a way of punishin! us later 'omehow, truth
always comes out in the end and our short term benefit is never worth the conse&uences
3. ALWAYS P!T THE CLIENTS BEST INTE"ESTS 'I"ST "he other rule that is
connected to ethical issues is that in every situation if we put the client#s interests before
all others and especially our own we will ma)e the ri!ht decision in ever case You have a
&uestion of conflict of interests5 6hat#s the ri!ht thin! for the client You have an
&uestion about settlement5 6hat#s the ri!ht thin! for the client 7n every situation this is
the litmus test of ma)in! the ri!ht decision
4. I' YO! WANT TO A(OI% %ISP!TES ) #IS!N%E"STAN%IN&S* CON'I"#
IT IN W"ITIN& 6e have a lot of dealin!s in our law practice and disputes as well as
misunderstandin!s are part of our communication problems Ma)e it a standard practice
after a conversation or phone call to send a confirmin! note 7t can be 89mail or a letter
and it doesn#t have to be in (le!ali4e* or should it be insultin! /ust confirm the
understandin! you have and avoid disputes
5. NO 'EE IS WO"TH THE PAIN O' A P"OBLE# CLIENT :o matter how
attractive the case or how lar!e the potential free, learn this iron clad rule "he pain,
an!uish and frustration of a problem client is simply never and 7 mean never worth
whatever fee you mi!ht earn ;ne of the reasons you became a lawyer was to have
independence so e2ercise !ood $ud!ment and send the problem clients somewhere else
6. PIC+ YO!" BATTLES Life is not fair and $ustice is a !oal but not always a reality
"here are situations where the cards are stac)ed before the are dealt 7n those cases you
need to evaluate what is possible and what is not possible <han!in! an e2istin!
condition may be possible and you should have the coura!e to act even where the odds
are a!ainst you "here are also situations where no matter what you do you are not !oin!
to succeed =nless you en$oy bein! a martyr reco!ni4e the facts
7. THE"E IS NO C"YIN& IN BASEBALL O" IN T"IAL WO"+ You learn &uic)ly as
a trial lawyer there are lots of thin!s about the trial system that are unfair and not ri!ht 7f
you are a woman trial lawyer you will probably reco!ni4e rather &uic)ly about !ender
discrimination "he youn! trial lawyer may e2perience the discrimination of the older
members of the profession 7f you are representin! clients char!ed with a crime you will
learn how difficult it is to !et $ustice "here are so many reasons to complain about the
system that are not !oin! to chan!e anytime soon that if you dwell on them, you will not
!row into the )ind of lawyer you should become You should conduct yourself as a
professional and be firm about who you are and your role, >owever, don#t spend your
time whinin! to your friends about it 7t#s a waste of time, "ou!hen up "rial wor)
re&uires coura!e and determination
8. BE YO! AN% NOT SO#EONE ELSE ?on#t waste your time tryin! to be someone
else you admire Learn from those who have somethin! worthwhile to teach but always
ma)e it yours You are uni&ue ;ver and over 7 see lawyers 7 would never e2pect to be
successful based upon appearances who are, in fact, !reat trial lawyers because they are
totally authentic @ warts, bumps and all People respond to authentic human bein!s so be
the uni&ue person Aod created when he created you
9. WHATE(E" YO! TA+E ON &I(E IT YO!" BEST E''O"T 8veryone should
evaluate le!al wor) you have accepted and be prepared to re9evaluate it at every sta!e,
but in all thin!s !ive it your best effort :othin! is worse then a half hearted trial lawyers
7f you accept the wor), then !ive it your best effort at all times and 7 all thin!s
10.'O" A SHO"T CO!"SE IN H!#AN NAT!"E ST!%Y %ALE CA"NE&IE ?ale
<arne!ie tau!ht courses in success and was a best sellin! author on the sub$ect in the
1-20Bs C 1-10Bs >e wrote what is probably the most accurate encyclopedia of human
nature in 1-1D with his boo) How to Win Friends and Influence People which remains
today a best seller and has been translated into thirty one lan!ua!es "rial lawyers have a
$ustified reputation for bein! loud, combative and often obno2ious people "oo many of
us haven#t a clue about the ma)eup of people who serve on a $urors, our clients or the
$ud!es we deal with "his simple, interestin! and very accurate boo), with an unfortunate
title, is all one needs to rectify this failure on our part if its teachin!s are put into practice