Solicitors specifying in Litigation really spend only a small portion of their time in Court and in 25 years of representing clients in superior value commercial litigation and fraud cases in the Commercial Court and Chancery Division in the High Court in London.
A good Litigation Solicitor does a majority of their work outside the Court, discovering the strategy for the claim, gathering evidence, classifying what will work and what won’t and trying to get an advantage for the client. A good legal firm in London manages the legal team, including the barrister, and the client, juggling the anxiety and the risk that comes with conflict, aiming to get the client the result they need.
In order to become one of the best litigation solicitors in London, there are several things to consider.
The major skills are listening and guiding clients to take the sound decisions – including whether to begin litigation in the first place and understanding when to terminate it, whether by settlement or committing everything to a trial.
This doesn’t mean necessarily being especially socially trained or charming, although that can ensure help. It does mean being completely on top of the issues and doubts and being able to communicate them logically and exhibit a view on what is bound to happen.
It is also important for litigation solicitors in London to be right as often as possible, even if what you tell the client will happen isn’t what they want to hear. Even with the most sought after legal skills in the world, a good appreciation of the way in which judges take decisions, and an impressive dose of luck, everyone is wrong a specific proportion of the time. Clients such as advisors who agree with them to a point but nothing sours a relationship like telling a client they will win when they want and in the long term and on the major issues you have to be trustworthy.
One perception is that a good settlement is one that neither side likes but both sides can live with. I would also observe that people settle for what they need rather than what they want. Getting your client, and the other side, to one of these balancing points is difficult, fascinating and almost always a better outcome for the client then putting it all on black, giving the wheel a spin and asking the judge who wins.
On day one, when a client walks through the door, a good solicitor is thinking about not just where the client is, factually, legally and emotionally, but where they’ll want to be, in a clinical, legally consistent and well evidenced way, if their problem ends up in front of a Court. A very big part of that is what the barrister is going to be arguing and how good that argument can be made.
So, a top tip is to think about what the barrister needs and to use them to shape the case from an early stage. This doesn’t mean deferring to them but rather incorporating their advice on strategy and factoring that into your preparation and management.
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