Becoming a Trial Lawyer: A Guide for the Lifelong Advocate

Rick Friedman

Format: Paperback
Condition: New
Price:
Sale price$125.00

In the first edition of Becoming a Trial Lawyer, legendary advocate Rick Friedman taught us that the process of becoming a trial lawyer doesn’t end. Now, Friedman returns in this second edition with new lessons on losing, comparing yourself to others, luck, and more that prove a true advocate’s education is never finished.

Trial law is not for the weak of heart. Advocates at any stage of their careers know that attaining both a happy, healthy home and a successful practice is not easy. Friedman won’t profess to have the secret formula for a good life, but his extensive experience both inside the courtroom and out has helped him understand what it takes to balance the personal and professional, and here, he shares these ideas in what might be his most important text to date.

This book is about you. It’s about asking the hard questions and doing what it takes to gain experience, make connections, establish the right reputation, preempt mistakes, succeed at trial, and maintain happiness on a career path that is fraught with stress, conflict, and frustration. Becoming a Trial Lawyer: A Guide for the Lifelong Advocate provides a perfect combination of practical advice and uplifting insights to inspire you to better yourself and progress in your career with confidence.

*This book is available to students and lawyers practicing 5 years or less for $45.00 when registered for the Trial Guides New Lawyers program. You can find more information on how to register here.

Paperback: 225 pages; 2nd edition (2015); ISBN: 978-1941007426
Publisher: Trial Guides, LLC
  1. Foreword
  2. Preface to the Second Edition
  3. Introduction
  4. Part I: Entering the Jungle
  5. Why Be a Trial Lawyer?
  6. Individual Billing Unit or Trial Lawyer?
  7. Educating Yourself
  8. Do You Have What It Takes?
  9. Your First Trial
  10. Beyond Technique
  11. You and Your Opponents
  12. Part II: Traps in the Jungle
  13. Beware of Formulas
  14. Do Not Expect Perfection
  15. Forget Playing It Safe
  16. More Is Not Better
  17. Strategic Detachment
  18. Your Lawyer Status Carries No Weight with the Jury
  19. Forget about Looking Good
  20. Don’t Try to Fool the Jury
  21. Don’t Assume the Jury Will Respond _x000B_ to Your Favorite Arguments
  22. The Limits of Logic and Sympathy
  23. Don’t Gorge on Experts and Starve for Lay Witnesses
  24. Spend More Time with Witnesses and Clients
  25. Jurors Don’t Need to Like You or Your Client
  26. Embrace Your Conservative Values
  27. Silence Can Be Your Friend
  28. You Must Ask for Money
  29. Superstition
  30. Part III: At Home in the Jungle
  31. Therapy
  32. The Cancer of Comparison
  33. Losing
  34. Luck
  35. Settlement
  36. Physical Health
  37. Family and Friends
  38. Competitors and Comrades
  39. Partners and Staff
  40. The Key to Unhappiness
  41. Afterword
  42. Recommended Reading List
  43. Acknowledgements
  44. About the Author

What Legal Leaders Are Saying

In this amazing book, Rick Friedman plumbs the depths of the soul of a trial lawyer to reveal what scares us most and how to overcome those fears. For new lawyers and scarred veterans seeking inspiration to continue the fight, this book reminds us that it is not the fearless who are courageous, but those who, fully understanding the risk of loss, walk into the arena of the courtroom anyway.

— Randi McGinn, president of the Inner Circle of Advocates and author of Changing Laws, Saving Lives: How to Take On Corporate Giants and Win
4.8 out of 5 stars 6 total reviews
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Joseph N. 🇺🇸
Verified Buyer
Love it. This has been
Love it. This has been the most helpful book I've read so far as an 8-year lawyer preparing to try his first case. I gave a copy to my brother for Christmas this year.
Published date
12/29/23
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TAYLOR B. 🇺🇸
Verified Buyer
Great read
I enjoyed this book. As a solo, it reinforces some great points I've learned up to this point in my career, and teaches great new advice. Surprisingly expensive for being a relatively quick read.
Published date
05/11/23
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Michael V. 🇺🇸
Verified Buyer
Fantastic book.
Fantastic book.
Published date
12/28/22
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Liew M. 🇺🇸
Verified Buyer
Awesome
this is for my attorney who has a trial coming up; as a first-time trial she needs some motivation
Published date
03/05/22
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Terence W. 🇺🇸
Verified Buyer
A Good Book on the Realities of Being a Trial Lawyer
This book touches on the life of a trial lawyer, more so than trial tactics or techniques. A good bit of good advice on dealing with clients, taking the jump into trying cases, dealing with defeat and expectations, etc.
Published date
04/07/21
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