A Day in the Life of a Trial Lawyer

Are you seriously contemplating on taking up law and making it as your full-time profession? Well, it may seem to be a daunting endeavor for many, but there are certainly several people who have valiantly risen up to the challenge and actually excelled in their field. Only a fraction of those aspiring students who have gone to law school are lucky enough to graduate, and still, a fraction of that will be able to pass the much-dreaded bar exam. Yes, it is certainly an overwhelming thought but not at all an unattainable road to pursue. 

So if you are one of those lawyer wannabes, you naturally would want to know all there is to know about lawyers. One of the much celebrated and distinguished law practitioners is the trial lawyer who is one of the main characters in a courtroom drama. So what is a typical day like for a trial lawyer, you might ask? Try to pretend you are one of those top-notch trial lawyers in the state, and read on and see how a classic working day would unfold.  

A day for a trial lawyer would often start with a quick browse of the morning news and check if any of your clients were included in the overnight news. Then expect some phone calls for several of your clients who would want to update you on certain developments of their situation.  You’ll arrive at your office in a hurry and immediately attend to the depositions scheduled for the day. What in the world is a deposition? It is actually a method that is ordered by the court to permit the two opposing parties to uncover everything they can about the rival party’s case. Just as you are about to start to go over the case, your secretary would transfer an urgent call for an emergency child custody hearing. As you make your way to the court, you try to soothe the frazzled nerves of your client who has never been in court. Aside from the emotional stress, a courtroom meeting is a little too much for her and she is actually on the verge of breaking down. You would, of course, try to brief her about the possible questions and tell her to answer as concisely and truthfully as much as possible. The trial starts and the judge patiently listens as the lawyers argue and defend the interests of their own clients. A decision is then made and you would relay the court’s decision to your client. 

You return to your office only to find a pile of phone calls that you have to return and while sorting through which are the most pressing ones, a frantic man enters your office with complaints about this and that. Apparently, he arrived home with all his furniture gone and suspects that his ex-wife is the culprit. You discuss the important details of the divorce law and what are the possible courses of action available for him. You try to gather all the relevant information and work with your client, advising him to cancel his credit cards since if there is an existing joint account, any of the spouses can withdraw from it.

As you might have gathered, a typical day for a trial lawyer is definitely not a walk in the park. You need to be always on your toes and be ready to handle unexpected developments of the cases you are handling. It’s a tough but fulfilling job to help people who are otherwise helpless in the midst of a legal crisis. So you really want to be a trial lawyer, it is not because of the possibility of making a lucrative living out of it, but because you are passionate and fervently want to uphold the law and want to make the world a better place for everyone.