If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going You’ll End Up Someplace Else

Attorney Mark Wilson quotes Yogi Berra on the perils of not knowing where you’re going, in this instance into a courtroom without a well-planned litigation strategy and a carefully developed budget. He maintains that lawyers without trial experience frequently overstaff cases, leading to extra costs and confusion. Inexperienced trial attorneys focus on issues jurors find unimportant and miss the issues that will decide a case. Attorneys without trial experience do not know how to capture key admissions during videotaped depositions that make the difference between winning and losing at trial. Attorneys who have never presented an opening statement to a jury don’t know which facts are case-dispositive and which ones can be ignored. As the trial date gets closer, “litigators” without trial experience get cold feet and recommend unjustified settlements. An attorney’s first trial should not be a jury trial where millions of dollars are at stake, Wilson says. Early and comprehensive case analysis leads to more predictable outcomes, minimizes wasteful discovery and motion expenses, and saves overall legal fees.