Trial Advocacy

You hire an attorney to advocate for you, to pursue your goals, and to protect your interests. It’s worthwhile to wonder what that means, to the attorney you choose. Family law cases end in settlement more than 90% of the time. Similarly, criminal charges result in a plea to some charge in roughly 90% of cases. Does settlement mean surrender? Settlement is simply a resolution that happens before a judge (or in criminal cases, a jury) issues a verdict or a ruling. Settlements can be good or bad, generous or… not. The difference between these scenarios is the work of your advocate.

Every lawsuit—including criminal charges—will be resolved by trial, if no agreement can be reached. This seems elementary, but it is not. If you are involved in a case that may end in a trial, you need to have an advocate who can try that case, if no settlement can be reached. Otherwise, you sacrifice negotiating power.

Some cases need to be tried.  One party or the other is sure that they are going to win all the issues, and will not settle unless they are appeased—but appeasement is disaster for the other party.  Some attorneys will only be dissuaded from trial if their unreasonable offers are accepted.  In these situations, the necessary element is an advocate who is comfortable and skilled in the courtroom, and has a reputation for solid trial advocacy.

This is an important part of what we do at McLain Legal.  Reasonable settlements are desirable, and we often tell clients they should pay the other side, instead of spending the same amount of money on legal fees.  However, when the conflict cannot be reasonably resolved, don’t hunt around hoping to find a lawyer who will take the case to trial—McLain Legal has that covered.

We study the rules of evidence, marshall our legal arguments through excellent writing, and prepare strategically from the beginning of representation, to be able to win your case at trial if there are no better options.  Caitlin and Andy both feel very comfortable in courtrooms all over the state, whether they are familiar faces or meeting the judges and staff for the first time.  This is the exciting part for us!  We still settle almost all of our cases, but we don’t settle because we fear the courtroom.