Quote: (08-19-2018 01:27 PM)BlackHussar Wrote:
You said you've had 20 jury trials in 15 years' experience. So, on average you have 1 and 1/3 major case annually. How much time during the year do you spend working on that particular case, and how much on minor cases like traffic tickets etc.?
Does that one major case per year provide a substantial sum of money, or do you have to additionally work your ass with minor cases?
Do you do other things as well, like writing or reviewing textbooks for law students?
Trials obviously take up more time. More investigation, more preparation, and more time in court. Usually though it's set for trial many months off, and even then it can get continued further, so I can space out the time I spend working on it. But a couple weeks before trial you go into crunch mode where you're putting in many hours a day, maybe all day just on that case and working later.
Truth be told I don't love trials. They take up so much of your time and can be stressful. When you're fighting for a client and the stakes are high, and they're looking at maybe decades in prison if it's a really serious charge, it gets emotional. Money-wise I end up making less per hour as the little cases. You make more overall on a big case that goes to trial, but you're gonna be working for that money, every cent. And then the rest of your practice can suffer because you're so dedicated to this one case.
You can make a good career out of little cases. Traffic tickets, misdemeanors, things like that. It's pretty easy work and you almost always get good deals. That means the clients are happy and refer others to you. And for a major trial, not many people can just write a check for $50,000 which is probably what you're looking at. So then you have to be a bill collector as well, and that's a pain in the ass.
I don't do any work with law students.