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Scott Benton: Hey everyone, Scott Benton here. How are you? I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast where we help you easily transition from a law school student into your professional career as an attorney, and where we make the practice of law fun.
Now today we’re going to take a look at navigating unexpected legal hurdles.
[00:01:00] Today in order to help assist your overall use of the success cycle Which is what we talked about on this podcast to help you learn and perfect the actual practice of law Which is a subject that you’re not going to be taught in law school. We’re going to take a look at navigating unexpected legal hurdles.
Setbacks in litigation are inevitable no matter how carefully you plan, So you’re never gonna be able to predict the path that a case takes. Now whether it’s a court walking back a favorable judgment, or a key piece of evidence being excluded, or an unexpected ruling throws your entire strategy off course, setbacks can really feel like a punch to the gut.
But here’s the thing, it’s how you handle that punch to the gut, or those setbacks, that really define you as an attorney. [00:02:00] So we want to look at how to manage those challenges when they come along. Not if they come along, but when they come along. And you want to figure out what you can learn from them and how to turn them into opportunities for growth.
First, let’s acknowledge that courtrooms are unpredictable environments where all kinds of sudden twists and turns can happen. It’s a lot like a rollercoaster ride. Judges can change their minds, the opposing counsel might present a new argument or a new piece of evidence, and sometimes things just don’t go the way that you want them to.
However, setbacks can also be a valuable learning experience. And obstacles are going to have an immediate and sometimes urgent impact on your to do list and the legal services that you’re going to now have to perform.
In order to navigate those sudden shifts, everything’s going to have to change all of a sudden, and you’re going to have to make that pivot with those changes. But one of the first lessons to keep in mind is that a setback does not mean failure. It doesn’t mean you have failed at anything. It’s simply an [00:03:00] opportunity to reassess the situation and adapt the new information that you have into your case, and then come back even stronger.
Now the best attorneys aren’t the ones who never encounter problems. The best attorneys are the ones who know how to navigate through them. So preparation is absolutely key, although you also want to keep in mind that preparation isn’t just about getting ready for things to go right, it’s also about getting ready for things to go wrong.
So you want to make sure that you’re accounting for all possible outcomes, like that old saying goes, that you want to hope for the best, but you want to prepare for the worst.
To that end, you’re going to want to cover your bases and do things such as You’re going to want to order transcripts immediately after a hearing or a trial, especially if the court’s oral ruling was in your favor. You’re going to want to have a clear word for word record of what was said in case the court’s final written order doesn’t exactly match what was set on record.
If that happens, you [00:04:00] have the transcript to show and to demonstrate that difference. Now this is also going to help you draft the order that reflects the court’s decision accurately. Now it’s entirely up to you to make sure that that draft is accurate and accounts for all discrepancies, which are not, by the way, the responsibility of the court or the responsibility of the opposing counsel.
It also shows your strength of character as an attorney who always remains focused and vigilant. Now that being said, even with preparation, you need to make sure that you’re anticipating reversals. A judge can reconsider a ruling based on new evidence or a compelling argument from the opposing side. Or really, they can just have a change of heart.
I mean, that happens too.
An attorney who’s an expert in navigating unexpected legal hurdles is ready for just that to happen. And they’re able to pivot whenever necessary. In fact, they’ll already have backup arguments prepared and ready to go should any reversals come [00:05:00] along. But inevitably, those setbacks do come up. And the most important thing you want to remember is to stay calm so you can think clearly. Now you also don’t want to telescope any loss of control to your client. So you really want to assess what’s happened and understand the cause of the setback to figure out your next steps.
From there, you’re going to look for new angles on the case with the new information evidence that’s come in. And you’re going to evaluate a new case strategy and then explain everything to your client.
This kind of transparency is what strengthens your relationship with your client and it allows them to maintain confidence in you and with your new proposed strategy. Lastly, after gone through a setback, you really want to take some time to reflect on what happened and what you can learn from that setback and all the actions that you took. What did you do well and what could you have done differently?
This is especially helpful when the case is still ongoing because you’re going to build a knowledge base up for how this [00:06:00] particular court operates and for how this particular judge responds to any new kind of development. Knowing the personality of the court becomes valuable information for shaping your tactics in and out of the courtroom.
Finally, as setbacks are a natural part of litigation, they really don’t have to derail your case or your career or anything drastic like that. In fact, if you talk to enough seasoned attorneys out there, you’re going to find out that the greatest lessons that they learned came from the more significant legal hurdles that they had to navigate over.
For you, along with the right positive mindset and strategies, you can navigate these hurdles as well. You can learn from them, and you can emerge as an even stronger, more capable attorney. A setback, it turns out, might even be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.
That means preparation is your best defense, so that when setbacks do occur, you can stay calm, you can reassess, and you can adapt. Remain nimble, [00:07:00] immediately adjust your to do list and the legal services that you perform, and use these ongoing experiences as opportunities to grow and improve as an effective attorney.
And you’ll find out that even the toughest challenges and tallest hurdles can lead to greater success overall. I’m Scott Benton. I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. Thank you so much for stopping in and checking out this episode. If you like this podcast and you’d like to get more information about us, you can always go to our website at classroom2courtroom. com. That’s classroom, the number 2, courtroom. com, where you can send us a message to keep in touch. Or you can even inquire about our seasonal associate programs we have available for law school students.
You can come and work for us. And as always, don’t forget to share, like, and subscribe to stay on top of all of our newest episodes. And until next time, we hope you’ll join us in making the world a better place. One client at a time.
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