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[00:00:07] Scott Benton: Hey everyone, Scott Benton here. I am your host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. How are you? We are here to help you transition from legal student in a law school, into your professional career as an actual attorney, once you pass the bar. And we are also here to remind you that the practice of law is fun.
[00:00:25] Scott Benton: And today, we are going to take a look at the question of, whether or not you should go to Trial School.
Now, what exactly is Trial School? You’re probably asking yourself.
[00:00:36] Scott Benton: Trial School is something that is often a class, or a course, or all day long course. Sometimes, it’s several days offered by the County Bar Association near you. And Trial School is intended for people, attorneys who have not been to trial, but who are practicing [00:01:00] as litigators. And chances are, you are going to see the inside of a courtroom, sometime soon. It’s also for litigators who are in court, and have seen the inside of a court, and they want to improve their skills and become more efficient and understand that process a little better.
[00:01:19] Scott Benton: And so the question is, do you, yourself, want to go to Trial School?
[00:01:25] Scott Benton: So in addition to going through Trial School through your bar association, and it’s usually a CLE class that is a continuous learning, and you have a certain amount of hours that you need to complete as an attorney every year. And one of the classes that you can take is a trial class, which will help you even if you aren’t going to be a litigator, you may be in a position at some point where you are in a courtroom setting. And so knowing that vocabulary, knowing those procedures, knowing all the prep that you have to take care of, [00:02:00] before you set foot in a courtroom will definitely be helpful information to you.
[00:02:05] Scott Benton: Now, recently, I did a search on Trial Schools on Google. And there are independent Trial Schools, people that have set up companies, whether they’re online or in person that you go to, if they’re in your area. You can also go to independent companies and pay their fee and take their courses. And they look interesting.
[00:02:24] Scott Benton: They promise that they will put you on the fast track of understanding, how to prep for a trial, and how to carry one out inside of a courtroom that is. So, you get to really learn a new subject. And you also get to satisfy some of your CLE credits, which is the equivalent of killing two birds with one stone, and it’s probably a really good idea.
[00:02:46] Scott Benton: Now, one way to advance your career, of course, is to get good at trials. So, this is a skill that you’re going to want to develop regardless, especially if you are practicing litigation. And so, the [00:03:00] sooner you get familiar with this, the easier it’s going to be for you to transition into actually doing a trial when you are representing somebody in court.
[00:03:09] Scott Benton: Now, the other two options aren’t such great options, but let’s walk through those just so we know what we’re looking at. One of the options, of course, is to not do Trial School. And not understand in any kind of great depth, how to prepare for a trial, how to go through a trial, and how to conduct yourself in a courtroom.
[00:03:32] Scott Benton: Oddly enough, we did have one of our attorneys, years ago, who was in a courtroom, and suddenly realized that he was in a trial. He thought it was just going to be a hearing, but the judge said to him, Counselor, please bring your first witness to the stand. And it was at that moment that he realized, he was in a trial.
[00:03:51] Scott Benton: So he had to suddenly think quickly on his feet. He didn’t want to show any kind of discomfort to the judge or to his [00:04:00] client. He wanted to make sure that he maintained a sense of calm equanimity with everybody who was in the courtroom. He didn’t want to show his cards that he was panicking at that moment, realizing that he was in his first trial. And we certainly don’t want anything like that to happen to you.
[00:04:19] Scott Benton: So the other option, of course is, in your firm, you’re going to find that there are the more seasoned attorneys. The attorneys that have had a lot of court experience. And there’s this temptation that you’re going to have to want to shadow them.
[00:04:32] Scott Benton: In other words, you’re going to want to go to a courtroom with them when they’re in a trial, and maybe sit in the second seat with them. So that way you can observe, you can see everything, and you can learn from firsthand experience of being in a courtroom and watching your more seasoned attorney, process the courtroom activities that they need to take care of.
[00:04:55] Scott Benton: But neither of those options are really good options. Even in the case of shadowing an [00:05:00] attorney, that’s something you don’t really want to do, because the minute that you get into your new job, your first job as an attorney, and you’re learning how to practice law, you’re going to see that this is a very busy environment.
[00:05:12] Scott Benton: You don’t really have time to just take the day off, or the week off, or the month off, or however long a trial is going to last, that you’re really not at liberty to just shut your door, and go to court with the more seasoned attorney. That’s likely not going to happen. And the reason is that a firm is in the business of selling time. And they are providing legal services.
[00:05:37] Scott Benton: So, for you to just shutter your office door, and go to a courtroom for a few days is really like taking a vacation. It’s not going to help the law firm, you’re not going to hit your minimum billable hours. And so, that idea is not such a great idea. But going to Trial School is probably going to [00:06:00] better give you the information you need, so that when that opportunity is on your plate, when you are the lead attorney, representing a client in a courtroom, you will have already gathered that information, and that context, and that vocabulary that’s going to help you once you set foot in a courtroom.
[00:06:18] Scott Benton: So to answer the question of whether you should go to Trial School or not, the answer is a definite maybe. But probably yes. It’s probably yes, you should go to Trial School, even if you’re not going to be a litigator. Just so you have that understanding, you have that sort of piece under your belt, so to speak. And you’re better prepared in case you are going to court. Now, if you’re going to be a litigator, or if you are a litigator, then hands down, without question, you should sign up for Trial School.
[00:06:47] Scott Benton: That should be the first thing you do tomorrow morning, is go online to your County Bar Association, and find a good Trial School or trial class for you to sign up for. And remember what the [00:07:00] CLEs, sometimes these can be broken down. So it’s not just called Trial School. Sometimes, they might be individual classes or workshops. So, there might be a workshop on introducing emotion, or a workshop on selecting a jury, or maybe a workshop on introducing evidence into a case. And so, you want to make sure that you have all of those skills.
[00:07:25] Scott Benton: And then, of course, there’s gonna be lots of other soft skills that you’re going to want to master, as well through these CLE classes that you’re taking that are in addition going to help you in trial, and really also outside of trial, just practicing law as an attorney.
[00:07:40] Scott Benton: Now, practicing law as an attorney is not something you learn in law school. That’s why we started this podcast, Classroom 2 Courtroom. It’s to help you make that transition as easily and gracefully, as possible. Because this is not information that you normally get anywhere. The law schools are in the business of getting you to [00:08:00] graduate law school. They’re not actually in the business of teaching you how to practice law. And the firms expect you to come in already knowing how to practice law.
[00:08:09] Scott Benton: So you’re in a bit of a catch 22, and it’s the very reason you’re listening to this podcast today. So I hope that’s helpful information. I hope that helps you answer the question of whether or not you should go to Trial School, whether or not you even know there’s a Trial School. Now you do, and you should definitely sign up for it.
[00:08:25] Scott Benton: I’m your host, Scott Benton. I am the host of Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. And if this is information that you’re finding helpful, and you’d like to receive an alert every time we put out a new episode, you can go to our website. Our website is Classroom2Courtroom.com. That’s classroom, the number two, courtroom. com.
[00:08:43] Scott Benton: Leave us your contact information. You’ll receive an alert, every time we put out a new episode. And if this is information that you’re enjoying, don’t forget to share, and subscribe. We hope you’ll join us on the next episode. And additionally, we hope you’ll join us in making the world a better [00:09:00] place, one client at a time.
[00:09:02] Scott Benton: Thank you so much.
