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The Endangered Trial Lawyer

If trial lawyers are an endangered species then it's not just a problem for the courts, it's also a real concern for mediation.

In the world of mediating the litigated case, we need lawyers in the mediation who understand what's out there, beyond the four walls of the mediation room, but also have the skills to function within them.

Things go pear-shaped when mediation lawyers can't call their client's BATNA accurately - and that happens when they are not able to fast-forward their case into a courtroom and advise, in the mediation, on realistic trial outcomes that involve the washing machine of a trial, not just the antiseptic pages of their 35 page legal opinion piece.

The Endangered Trial Lawyer: In the age of the vanishing trial, how can the young lawyers of today develop the kind of art and skill their elders wield so well in the courtroom?

Some of the best of the old breed are pessimistic about the prospects. Others say cowboys with six-guns and lassos are no longer needed in an age of mechanized cattle ranching... [read more in the March ABA Journal]

Related: Lions of the Trial Bar

[click on the title of this post to read more...]

Full post as published by mediator blah...blah... on February 27, 2009 (boomark / email).