After graduating from school and doing criminal law on a daily basis, I realized how little law school taught me for the real world. Law school is very abstract and academic. The vast majority of time in law school is spent on researching and writing. Learning case law and legal writing is an important part of being a lawyer, but lawyers do so much more. Students can easily read and write on their own. However, lawyers must communicate with opposing counsel, experts, investigators, witnesses and clients. Lawyers have to coordinate schedules with the court and essentially teach clients about the legal process. Lawyers also have to argue facts, humanize clients and explain their clients' stories. The clients depicted in the case law are all indistinguishable minor characters in their own stories. The case law does a horrible job humanizing the clients. The clients are all living people with their own personalities, dreams, hopes, fears, traumas and temperaments. The whole point of becoming a lawyer is to help clients, but law school never appropriately conveys that message since so little of the curriculum mentions clients. Law school focuses too much on legal theory over practical experience. We get three or four years of law school but still spend most of our time in school in the classroom.
After actually communicating with clients, I realized that law school does not prepare you for interacting with clients or how to earn their trust. I never had a class on how to calm down a client, how to tell client bad news or how to get a client to cooperate with intake. I have to meet clients in lockup for the first time in the middle of the worst time in their lives, where they risk having to wait for trial while sitting in jail. Another thing I realized is the clients vent to the attorney because they have no one else to talk to. Law school puts way too much emphasis on grades, class rank and extracurriculars. However, clients do not care about how well you did in school. They just want someone to fight for them. Sometimes, the clients just have unrealistic expectations. I can’t tell you how many times clients ask me if I can get their cases dismissed even though it is never that easy. The clients vent about their personal lives. You just have to listen and give them space to express themselves before you try to get down to business. Law school does not focus enough on listening. They focus on making winning arguments and thinking about what rebuttal to make when the other person is speaking. Dealing with clients requires the same skills as any other relationship. Some clients will be mad at you if the case does not go their way. It is common for clients to blame lawyers for their legal situation since the lawyer is the lightning rod and the only one clients can talk to. It is very disheartening when a client is mad at you because we all go into this profession to help clients. It is very important not to take a client yelling at you personally. I learned that I have no control over what a client says or does. You have to give them the bad news, but they will react however they please. The attorney’s job is to give the client the bad news and let them figure out what to do with the information. Not every client is compatible with you. Compatibility is just something that you have no control over. Although the purpose of the privilege is to encourage frank discussions with clients, one of the unintended effects of the privilege is that it isolates lawyers. We do not get to see how other lawyers handle clients, which could help with figuring out our own approach to clients. Also, it is reassuring to hear from other lawyers that clients get mad at them and fire them. It makes me feel less alone since I am not the only one who has difficult clients. Luckily, most clients are easy to work with.
No attorney starting out is going to know everything. Law school and the profession expect that we always know the answers. We are never taught the importance of saying, “I don’t know.” You are always learning on the job since the education never stops after graduation. Nobody knows everything about the law. We learn the best from our mistakes since experience is just what we call our mistakes. You do not have to know the answer. You just have to know where to find the answer. In criminal law, I learned about psychology, immigration and substance abuse on the job. I am still learning on the job. Even experienced attorneys will admit they are still learning on the job.
Despite demystifying the trial process, law school doesn’t do a good job of explaining what to do when things don’t go according to plan. Despite doing multiple trials, I cannot say that trials ever go according to plan. Witnesses say something that you never expected. One time, I had a trial where my client was consistently late for trial. My client never showed up after the lunch break. I never had a class on disappearing clients. I was so nervous about something that I could not possibly control or anticipate. I learned from experience that you can ask for a continuance to find your client or have a mistrial. Luckily, my client appeared a half hour late before I had to make a decision. School taught us the importance of getting favorable witnesses but never taught us how to summons a witness, how to find witnesses, how to prepare witnesses, how to respond if a witness says something that you did not expect, and what to do if a witness does not attend court.
In law school, I was under the impression that any case can be won if you have the best argument. Not every case is winnable. You can’t control the facts of your case. We are like actors. We have our scripts that we don’t write and just have to make the most of them. Not all of our scripts are going to win the Oscar. Sometimes, you don’t have a case. Clients may want you to insist on going to trial. Other times, the client may decide to testify midway through the trial. You just have to know your case so you can have some sort of structure in directing your client. An improv class would be really helpful since it requires you to constantly think on your feet and react to unexpected situations. You also have to do a class show, where you have to perform in front of people that you have never met before, just like at a jury trial. If someone says that you did the best you could with what the facts were, then you did a great job.
We learn all the rules on picking jurors and challenging jurors, but we never learn in school how to actually pick a good jury. I was surprised at my first trial when I got the jury questionnaires. I get little time to review the questionnaires since I get them on the day of trial. I have no time to get an investigator to question the prospective jurors. I have to make split-second decisions on who to exclude and who to allow in the jury.
Law school assumes that all cases go to trial. Part of the issue is that it is really hard to appeal a plea or settlement, so we do not see a lot of case law on settlements and pleas. Law students read case law all day and would reasonably assume that everything goes to trial. Most cases are either dismissed or resolved through a deal. Sometimes, the facts are really bad, and you do not have a defense. Sometimes, the opposing party does not have cooperating witnesses and is not prepared for trial. Other times, the clients just want their case dismissed and don’t want to go through the risky, stressful gamble of a trial. Law school does not teach you how to communicate and negotiate with opposing counsel, especially if the opposing counsel is difficult. Law school should focus on negotiating a deal with the same amount of fervor as trials.
Law school does not put enough emphasis on taking care of your mental health. It is important to have interests outside of work. Sometimes, you just need an escape from the chaotic and hectic world of law. It is not healthy to focus on clients’ problems 24/7. Judges always expect you to have an argument even if you do not have the facts to make an argument. If you focus too much on work, you will burn out. I know it is easier said than done for firms with high billable hours and workaholic bosses. We are all more than our professions. We cannot define ourselves by our professions. When you graduate school and pass the bar, you get more time to yourself to explore other interests. You don’t have to spend time studying or outlining. You can’t help clients if you can’t take care of yourself. Once you are done with work, you can travel, take classes, start exercising, grow a garden, learn an instrument, study another language, read a book, perform in a drama, etc. The possibilities are nearly endless. Law school turns you into a workaholic who focuses on getting the best grades to get into the best law firms. It does not tell you how to manage time while dealing with pressures from everyone else in the case, stress and competing deadlines.
The lawyers in case law seem like superhumans who have everything under control, but that is not the reality. The appellate lawyers in the case law are very experienced. We never see how they got to that point in their lives. Very few people are skilled as soon as they start. There are times that you will make mistakes and struggle to find your path. Judges appreciate it if you admit your mistake and accept responsibility. Mistakes are learning experiences on what not to do. Very few mistakes are irreversible. We never really learn how to be resilient when you have a bad day in court. Everything in school is a controlled environment where there is a clear-cut answer. Court is very unpredictable since you are no longer dealing with professors who are trying to help you. The opposing counsel and judge are not necessarily on your side. Court rarely goes as planned with so many variables.
Another obstacle unique to young lawyers is that some clients will not trust young lawyers since they have no experience. They have an understandable concern since clients do not want to take a risk of losing at trial with a young attorney. It is a catch-22 since you need trials to get the experience. If clients do not let you take their case, you cannot get the experience. You can always get a mentor or some more experienced attorney to help you out if you have any questions on your case, so you can borrow another attorney’s experience. If you are a newer lawyer, you do not have a large caseload. Then, you can focus more time on a client’s case. Some clients may not be worried about the experience as long as you are willing to keep them updated and do your best to fight for them.
Edward Ferrante was sworn in as a lawyer in 2017. After struggling to find his place in the legal profession, he created his own position in the legal profession. He started the Law Office of Edward M. Ferrante in 2019. He is a member of the Essex Bar Advocates, a private attorney who represents indigent people charged with crimes. He represents people in Salem District Court. Recently, the Committee for Public Counsel Services accepted him for its Mental Health Litigation Division, where he will represent clients when the mental hospital tries to commit them as dangers to themselves and others.