Thinking Like a Trial Lawyer
What does it actually take to become a great trial lawyer? Jason Itkin speaks on the work, the humility to start at the bottom, the sacrifices the job demands, and the two kinds of pressure that come with it.
Founding partner Jason Itkin on what it actually takes to become an elite trial lawyer, and the pressure that comes with clients who only get one chance.
There Is No Way Around the Work
Charisma, charm, and intelligence are not enough. Becoming great at this requires the work, and the humility to start at the very bottom, listen, and learn. It also requires accepting a trade: greatness as a trial lawyer means giving up greatness somewhere else. There are stretches where the law overwhelms everything, and stretches where a break means being a great husband or father instead. Knowing how to navigate that is part of the job.
“A lot of people talk about wanting to be great. You’ve got to be willing to put in the work.”
The Pressure Is the Point
Two kinds of pressure come with this work.
The first belongs to the client: they only get one shot to win, and everything rides on it. The second arrives with success. Once you become good, the expectation is that every courtroom appearance meets that standard, and a target goes on your back. The better the firm gets, the harder the fight becomes, because the other side responds with more resources, more lawyers, and more roadblocks. Staying great takes singular focus and the mindset of winning every single day.
“The bigger and better you get, the harder it becomes, because the bad guys know it. And so they’re going to do everything they can to stop you.”
Full Transcript
If you want to be a great trial lawyer, you’ve got to work for it. There’s no other way through it. You can think you’re charismatic, you can think you’re charming, you can think you’re smart, but there’s no way to be great, to be elite, without putting in the work and having the humility to start at the very, very bottom, and to listen and to learn.
And you’ve got to understand that to be great as a trial lawyer means sacrificing maybe greatness in other areas of your life. You’re not going to be a great trial lawyer and a great golfer. You’re not going to be a great trial lawyer and a great triathlete. There is a way to be a great trial lawyer and a great husband and a great father, but it’s really tricky, and you got to know how to navigate it because there’s going to be times over the course of your life where the law is going to overwhelm everything else you’re doing. And so if you get a break, that’s the time to be a great husband or a great father. But there’s going to be times where you just need to be grinding it out day after day, 20 hours a day to make it work.
And a lot of people talk about wanting to be great. I want to be a great trial lawyer. I want to be, you know, the best. You’ve got to be willing to put in the work and to understand the pressure that you’re going to be under, the pressure you face, because your clients only get one shot to win.
The pressure of expectations, because once you start becoming good or becoming great, there’s an expectation that every time you walk into the courtroom, that you have that same level of greatness, and there becomes a target on your back. The bigger and better you get, the harder it becomes, because the bad guys know it. And so they’re going to do everything they can to stop you. More resources, more lawyers, more roadblocks, and you’ve got to be singularly focused to become great and remain great. And it takes a mindset of making sure that you win every single day.
