Trial Lawyers

[Earl_of_Sandwhich]

When someone refers to a trial lawyer, he is (I believe) talking about a personal injury lawyer. What makes a personal injury lawyer a trial lawyer? Aren’t most lawyers trial lawyers?

[pravnik]

A trial lawyer is just a lawyer who appears in court, as opposed to a lawyer who only researches and briefs, or drafts contracts, or what have you. Lots of lawyers never see the inside of a courtroom.

[brianmelendez]

Most lawyers’ practices can be described as either litigation or transactional work. A transactional practice involves an area of law like corporate finance or real estate, which primarily involves negotaiting deals and drafting documents, and little or no work inside a courtroom. A litigation practice involves preparing cases for trial, usually but not always reaching a compromise and settlement along the way.

Any lawyer who tries cases, even in a specialized court such as a tax court, can legitimately call himself or herself a “trial lawyer.” (My only quibble with pravnik is that appearing in court is not necessarily trial work: I appeared in court regularly for five years arguing motions before I tried my first case.) But Earl of Sandwhich is correct that the term “trial lawyer” has been successfully co-opted by the plaintiff’s bar. I suspect that the shift occurred in the early 1970s when the National Association of Claimants’ Compensation Attorneys changed its name to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America:

In 1946, a group of plaintiffs’ attorneys involved in workers’ compensation litigation founded the National Association of Claimants’ Compensation Attorneys (NACCA). Their devotion to securing strong representation for victims of industrial accidents soon attracted admiralty, railroad, and personal injury lawyers. It wasn’t long before the group included attorneys engaged in almost all facets of trial advocacy.

Reflecting its growth and expanded commitments, NACCA, in 1972, emerged as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). In 1977, ATLA’s headquarters moved from Boston to Washington, DC. Today, ATLA is a broad-based, international coalition of attorneys, law professors, paralegals, and law students.

As the world’s largest trial bar, ATLA promotes justice and fairness for injured persons, safeguards victims’ rights–particularly the right to trial by jury–and strengthens the civil justice system through education and disclosure of information critical to public health and safety. With more than 56,000 members worldwide, and a network of U.S. and Canadian affiliates involved in diverse areas of trial advocacy, ATLA provides lawyers with the information and professional assistance needed to serve clients successfully and protect the democratic values inherent in the civil justice system.