[00:00:00]
[00:00:07] Scott Benton: Hey everyone, it’s Scott Benton here. I am your host of the Classroom to Courtroom podcast. How are you? We are here talking mostly to law students or recent law school graduates And we’re showing you how to transition from that Mind of a legal student to the mind of a professional attorney Which is the transition that you are probably in the process of making and we want to remind you that the practice of law is fun and show you how to Walk that particular path
[00:00:38] Scott Benton: Today, we’re going to answer the question of how do I go from a level one attorney to a level two attorney?
[00:00:50] Scott Benton: how do I go from a level one attorney to a level two attorney and We’re going to dig into that question and see if we can sort that out a little bit But first Let’s talk about what a [00:01:00] level one attorney is, especially where it comes to litigation. Litigation is where we are focusing on this particular episode, and we want to define what a level one litigator looks like, and a level one litigation attorney is going to be someone who comes in and they do that sort of standard job.
[00:01:21] Scott Benton: They do all of the trial prep. They show up with their exhibit. They deliver their opening statement. They have their required amount of, let’s say, declarations. And they are going to process the case in the way that they understand that a case needs to be processed. And they do a good job. I’m not knocking them.
[00:01:43] Scott Benton: Level 1 is fine. Often times a level 1 litigation attorney will be a newer attorney, although that’s not always the case. Sometimes. attorneys, litigators, they go through their entire career in level one mode. And that’s fine, but you do have the [00:02:00] opportunity to jump up to level two as a litigation attorney and what we’re discussing on this podcast episode.
[00:02:06] Scott Benton: So what exactly is a level two litigation attorney? Let’s take a little bit of a closer look at that and see if we can move you from level one to level two. Maybe you’ve been stuck in level one for a while now. Maybe you didn’t know there was a level two, but there is and there is a path to reach level two But it is a completely different mindset and between level one and level two is going to be a mindset Adjustment an important one one that you’re going to have to embark upon if you’re going to reach that level two in your abilities as a litigation attorney so Let’s take a look at level one.
[00:02:43] Scott Benton: Now, a level one litigation attorney, they’re going to get maybe a couple declarations. They’re going to say, okay, I got two or three of them. That’s good. That’s enough. But that’s not what a level two is. Litigation attorney is going to do a litigation. Level two attorney is concerned [00:03:00] with 10 xing their output.
[00:03:02] Scott Benton: They’re going to 10 times the amount of output that a level one attorney is typically going to feel is satisfactory work. A level two litigation attorney is going to 10 times that amount. So there’s a book by the way, by a guy named Grant Cardone, it’s called the 10x rule. And if you don’t know that, book, you should look into it and pick it up and read it if you get a chance.
[00:03:25] Scott Benton: But that’s all about How to 10X your work productivity. It’s that idea of working smarter, not harder. And so you want to figure out how to dramatically increase your work output. There’s another book, by the way, by a guy named Tim Ferriss, who wrote a book several years ago. Called the four hour work week.
[00:03:47] Scott Benton: And that also was a discussion on work optimization and 10 X in everything you do. And these ideas that are in these two books, the 10 X rule by Grant Cardone and the four hour work [00:04:00] week by Tim Ferriss is going to really give you the software that you’re going to need to produce an enormous amount of work and really reach up and grab onto that.
[00:04:12] Scott Benton: level two as a litigation attorney without doing the 10 X rule. You really probably aren’t going to make it. So if you’re stuck in level one, probably what’s happening with you is you just haven’t figured out how to 10 X your output. But there are certainly ways to do it. Those two books are great places to start, but you want to begin to consider your own work optimization.
[00:04:35] Scott Benton: So if you’re at level one as a litigation attorney, instead of getting two or three declarations, a level two. Litigation attorney is going to get 12 and 13 and 14 and 15 declarations. They just keep going. They’re going to do a kind of a layering as far as evidence goes. They’re going to learn every single way that they can get evidence into a [00:05:00] case.
[00:05:00] Scott Benton: A level two litigation attorney is going to attend every single class and every single area of law. that they’re able to attend at the CLE classes or usually you can attend those through your county bar association. There are other outside classes that will do that as well. A level two attorney, litigation attorney, is going to go attend all of them.
[00:05:23] Scott Benton: If you’re a litigation two attorney, level two, You’re reading all of the books, all the nonfiction books about work optimization, about scheduling. You’re learning how to write your time entries. You’re learning again, how to get evidence into a case. You’re digging and digging. You’re doing all the research.
[00:05:43] Scott Benton: Not only that, but as a new attorney, an aspiring level two litigation attorney, maybe you’re still in Level one, because you’re brand new, but you want to do everything you can to get to that, that second level, then you’re talking to your senior attorney all the time, [00:06:00] or a senior attorneys who are in your firm and you’re trying to fit, because these are people that.
[00:06:05] Scott Benton: Have a wealth of experience and there’s no reason that you can’t go talk to them about the issues that you’re facing right now. Maybe you have an upcoming trial, you don’t know what you need to do to prepare for that trial. There’s always trial school you can go to that’s often done by your county bar association.
[00:06:24] Scott Benton: That’s like a one day class that you’re going to run out and sign up for and you’re going to go through trial school. That’s something that a level two litigation attorney is going to do all day long. And that’s something that a level one litigation attorney generally is not going to do. Now, becoming a level two litigation attorney means that you’re reaching a place of rarefied air.
[00:06:48] Scott Benton: Because most people probably aren’t going to get to that level, or a great majority of them, let’s say. They’re going to stay in the level one realm. And that’s fine, and I’m sure they win a lot of [00:07:00] cases. But You’re going to see a big difference between a level one litigation attorney and a level two litigation attorney, and you’re going to know it when you see it.
[00:07:08] Scott Benton: And if you want an example of what a level two litigation attorney looks like, there’s a 1992 film called My Cousin Vinny that you can go watch if you haven’t seen it. If you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about. There is the final courtroom scene at the end of the movie. Vinny, who’s played by Joe Pesci, by the way, has had maybe five weeks.
[00:07:29] Scott Benton: of experience as an attorney just passed the bar. I think he took it like five or six times before he finally passed and he’s been an attorney for five or six weeks and his cousin played by Ralph Macchio and then Ralph Macchio’s character’s friend have been arrested and accused of murder. A crime they did not commit.
[00:07:48] Scott Benton: So Vinny, with five weeks of experience as an attorney and no experience as a trial attorney, has to go to Alabama to make sure to defend his cousin and his cousin’s friend and make sure [00:08:00] that they don’t get convicted for murder, a murder they didn’t commit. So in that final courtroom scene, you’re going to see Vinny, who has now become a level two litigation attorney.
[00:08:12] Scott Benton: He probably wouldn’t even define it that way, that character. And no one else would necessarily define it that way, but compared to who he was when we first meet him in the first act of that movie, he’s a dramatically different character, and he’s a level, he wasn’t even a level 1 when we first meet him.
[00:08:29] Scott Benton: He’s dressed wrong, he doesn’t know what to say in court, he has no idea, the judge keeps getting mad at him. And then finally, by the end of the movie, he is this level 2. litigation Attorney and his final sort of argument is a presentation of layer after layer of evidence that he’s accumulated and put together and that’s what a level two litigation attorney would do.
[00:08:56] Scott Benton: You don’t just stop with. enough evidence [00:09:00] to prove your case. You can do that. But if something pivots in the case now, suddenly there are holes poked in your argument. So a level two litigation attorney is going to be like that Joe Pesci character who comes in and he just delivers this level and then that level and then another level.
[00:09:18] Scott Benton: And by the time he’s finished, there’s no question in anybody’s mind that Vinnie’s cousin, Ralph Macchio, and Ralph Macchio’s friend are innocent and the state ends up dropping all charges. And that’s what a level two litigation attorney is going to look like. And that’s what you should be striving for to get to that kind of level, to get to that kind of height in your abilities to litigate as an attorney.
[00:09:45] Scott Benton: So I hope this has been helpful information. And I hope it’s answered the question of the differences between a level one attorney and a level two litigation attorney and how you go from one to two. Hopefully that will inspire you to want to [00:10:00] go for that, that, that bigger sort of more difficult level as a litigation attorney.
[00:10:05] Scott Benton: I know you can do it. I know it’s in you. You just have to make that decision to go after it. My name is Scott Benton. I’m the host of the Classroom and Courtroom podcast. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. Now, if you like this material, you and you wanna get an alert every time we put out a new episode, you can go to our website.
[00:10:22] Scott Benton: Our website is classroom two courtroom.com. That’s classroom the number two courtroom.com. You can leave us your contact information and you’ll get an alert every time we put out a new episode. And if you do like this material, don’t forget to share and subscribe. We hope you’ll join us. On our next episode of the classroom to courtroom podcast.
[00:10:40] Scott Benton: We also hope that you’ll join us In making the world a better place one client at a time. Thank you so much
[00:11:00]
