Pre-Trial Preparation Quotes

Being a trial lawyer sounds like glamorous work, but most of your time is spent pushing paper and arguing.

Most lawyers aren't trial lawyers. Most lawyers, even trial lawyers, don't get their problems solved in a courtroom. We like to go to court. It seems heroic to go to court. We think we're the new, great advocates, better than anything we've seen on TV, and we come home exhilarated by having gone to court.

A defendant can use discovery to run out the clock on the plaintiff and to make the plaintiff run out of money.

I was a defense attorney before I was a prosecutor, and so knowing what the defense is going to try to do is something that you have to do constantly when you're in trial. I always went to trial knowing what they were doing. So I was always in both mindsets anyway. 'Oh, they're going to do this, then I'm going to do that.'

Preparation is the be-all of good trial work. Everything else - felicity of expression, improvisational brilliance - is a satellite around the sun. Thorough preparation is that sun.

When you're thrust into litigation, you obviously have to make sure you're prepared to deal with that.

I think the lawyers are such incredible actors. Can you imagine the performance they have to do every day?

Going to trial with a lawyer who considers your whole life-style a Crime in Progress is not a happy prospect.

I was originally going to be a lawyer, and the only thing I remember from the art of cross-examination is - you can see this one coming up Sixth Avenue - never ask a question the answer to which you do not know.

The only real lawyers are trial lawyers, and trial lawyers try cases to juries.

The jury could get the case as early as next week, but the defense says they just want to introduce one last-minute load of crap.

Any litigator will tell you that adding to your legal team on the eve of trial most likely will not produce better lawyering but, rather, chaos.

This hearing came about very quickly. I do have a few preliminary comments, but I suspect you're more interested in asking questions, and I'll be happy to respond to those questions to the best of my ability.

I will defend anyone as long as the client gives me total control of the case and pays up front.

I have plenty of 'Law & Order' on my resume.