It’s tough to try a jury trial.  Even in law school, most students don’t get courtroom experience.  And the majority of practicing lawyers never go into a courtroom their entire lives.

As a criminal lawyer, I’ve tried over 100 cases before a jury.  How did I learn?

I began my trial career as a Public Defender.  I thought it would be murder cases, bank robberies, and other exciting trials. Instead, my first trial was a misdemeanor speeding ticket.  My client was on a motorcycle and insisted that the was innocent. While questioning the jury, I asked a juror if she could presume the defendant innocent until proven guilty.  Instead, she said, “Why didn’t he just pay the ticket?”  I knew I was in for a tough time.

I was scared to death.  Somehow, I stumbled through the trial to the end.  There were no major screw-ups.  The police had tracked his speeding by airplane!!  In spite of my valiant efforts, he was found guilty.

While in law school I took a full year of trial practice classes.  At the end of each semester, we held mock trials with volunteer jurors.  We took different roles such as prosecutor and defense lawyer.

Before I tried my first “real” case as a Public Defender, I attended an intensive week-long trial lawyers boot camp.  We studied things like: jury selection, direct and cross examination, how to present exhibits, and closing arguments.  Teachers watched our performance, filmed us, and treated us like drill sergeants.

After the speeding trial, I went to another week of trial lawyers college.  The combination of trying a real case while going to school helped me a lot.

One of the toughest parts of a trial is that a lawyer really tries two cases at once:

1.  The case to the judge to get favorable legal rulings

2.  The case to the jury to get a favorable verdict.

The skills required for each aspect are different.  At the same time, your opponent is always taking shots at you.  No matter how much a lawyer prepares, these are always weird things that pop-up in a trial.  Witnesses change their stories.  Critical evidence is not allowed by the judge.  A trial lawyer must improvise on the spot.

It took me about seven years of trying cases before I felt competent.  I also worked as a prosecutor.  That forced me to learn skills on the other side of the table–very valuable.

Like many professions, it’s ultimately OJT—on the job training.  That’s why I started with speeding tickets instead of murder cases.

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