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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, in terms of delivering legal services, which you do as an attorney, we’re going to look at the power of using momentum in litigation.
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Scott Benton: Today we’re going to take a look at the power of using momentum in litigation. Now, if you’ve ever wondered how to gain and then maintain an edge in a legal case, or why some cases seem to just take off while others falter and stall, understanding the use of momentum can be the key to unlocking that particular mystery.
So, with that, let’s explore how you can harness this momentum power to influence the outcome of your cases.
Momentum in litigation is a little bit like a snowball rolling downhill. Once you get it going, it gathers speed, it grows in size, and it gets stronger and stronger and stronger, which becomes increasingly difficult for the opposition to stop. But the real challenge is getting that snowball going in the first [00:02:00] place.
So how do you get it started?
So with that being the more difficult component of the momentum equation, we’ve got to look at how you build and how you maintain momentum in litigation.
To make it easy, let’s break it down into a few key strategies and illustrate it with an example that highlights the impact of the actions that you take early on.
And that’s the key, taking action early on.
The first step in gaining momentum is to start out strong. That means that early actions in a case can often set the tone for everything that follows. So that might mean filing a well prepared complaint, presenting a compelling motion, or strategically engaging with the opposing party.
The goal here is to establish your position early on and then to assert control over the proceedings. You wanna keep the pressure on top of moving the case forward and never letting up. And believe me, this [00:03:00] is definitely gonna keep your to-Do list full and consistently replenished with plenty of new tasks are complete, and you’re never gonna find yourself stuck with no legal services to perform for this particular case.
You’re doing that because you’re keeping the snowball rolling. Now once you’ve gained some early victories, even if they’re small, you really want to use those as stepping stones. Each success, one after another, can be leveraged to build up even more momentum and even more speed. This might involve using a favorable ruling that you’ve been able to get to press for further concessions, or maybe highlighting a strong piece of evidence that you uncover to undermine or even completely derail the arguments the opposing party’s busy making.
In litigation, controlling the narrative is absolutely everything. Therefore, any early momentum that you’re able to create allows you to frame the case in a way that benefits and supports your position. You can even shape the way facts are perceived.
The [00:04:00] way that they influence the direction of your legal arguments, and they can also dictate the pace of the proceedings. This kind of precise strategic control can become an absolute game changer for you and how the case ends up unfolding.
But using momentum isn’t just about making a big push at the start, although that is a part of it. It’s about maintaining that drive all throughout the case. This means staying proactive, continually advancing your strategy, and keeping the pressure on the opposing side. So you need to make sure that you remain vigilant and that you don’t get distracted and that you’re laser focused and attentive to this particular case.
You really want to avoid letting it stagnate for any length length of time because that’s gonna diminish your position. so you need to remember that consistency in your action momentum you’ve created
doesn’t fizzle out.
To illustrate the power of momentum. Let’s talk a little bit about a case that’s involved in high stakes litigation [00:05:00] where early actions created a significant snowball effect.
Let’s say the legal team filed a meticulously prepared complaint and pushed for an expedited discovery process. They focused on gathering key evidence and securing critical witness testimonies early on, and then they made sure those happened. These early actions were not just routine steps that they would take in any old case.
They were strategic moves designed to build momentum.
Now in this case, by the time the opposing side had a chance to respond, the legal team already established a strong position for themselves right up front. They used their early success to control the narrative, which then shaped how the case was perceived by the judge and jury.
Each favorable ruling or piece of evidence from that point forward was used to their advantage and maintained the momentum to drive the case forward.
The legal team’s ability to build and maintain momentum was [00:06:00] not only successful, but it was also pivotal. It allowed the legal team to control the proceedings, which forced the opposition into more of a reactive posture, and it significantly influenced the case’s outcome. The snowball effect from their early actions turned the case into a relentless juggernaut that was challenging and difficult for the opposition to counter. Remember, the early actions you take in a case can set the stage for everything else that follows, so use those actions wisely to build momentum and set yourself up for success.
I hope this episode has given you a valuable glimpse into the power of momentum in litigation. Now, if you’re still a law school student, It probably is going to be some time before you find yourself in a trial, but in terms of filling your to do list and performing your legal services, you can see why momentum is going to help keep you fully focused while working on a case.
When it’s done [00:07:00] correctly and persistently, you can become an unstoppable force that really few people can handle or much less take control of. I’m Scott Benton. I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. Thank you so much for checking out this episode.
If you like this podcast and you’d like to get more information from us, you can always go to our website at classroom2courtroom. com. That’s classroom, the number two, 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. 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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