During closing submissions on a recent trial, the presiding judge looked me square in the eyes and asked me to explain why my client should win her case. I advocated my position after three fast-paced days of evidence, and then lost.
They say that history is written by the winners while the losers go home and rationalize their defeat as a learning experience.
But losing is a part of litigation. A big part. The adage goes that a lawyer who wins 100 per cent of their cases is a lawyer doing their other clients a disservice by not pushing the difficult matters to trial.
The trial referenced above was not my first or even most recent loss, and it certainly will not be my last.
What is clear, however, is that you’ll learn more about litigation from doing trials and argued motions than you will doing research and drafting in your office. As a young lawyer, that goes double for the matters you take on and lose.
All of which is to say that trials and argued motions should not scare you, nor should you be dissuaded by the prospect of being unsuccessful.
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