Lawyer jokes are a dime a dozen. But lawyer shows are a dime a dozen, too. Each show portrays lawyers, especially trial attorneys, as steady and stable and always in control of the courtroom. If you watch news broadcasts of live trials, you see attorneys calm and focused and unflappable. The stakes are high. The stress is enormous. And yet, these men and women not only operate under this stress, they seem to thrive on it. How is this possible? And what if you could use the same techniques and principles to attack and transform the stress in your life?
Litigation attorneys use these 6 principles to prepare the case and to withstand the stress of a trial. This is not to say that litigation is limited to these 6 steps. or that litigation is simple. These are principles that you can use to attack stress instead of just manage.
1. Define reality. Know exactly what you are dealing with. A lawyer must know what happened, what the circumstances were, who the parties are, what the possible outcomes could be, etc. Failure to accurately describe the reality of the case he or she is presented with could be fatal to the case. Applying this to stress means that you objectively describe the problem without the emotional charge that stress causes in you.
2. Define the issues. Know exactly what the problems are. Litigation involves competing parties arguing over legal issues. Does A owe a duty of care to B? Did X steal that item or just forget to put it back on the shelf before leaving the store? Does a law passed by the state legislature violate the state or Federal constitution? Stress does not have issues, but it does have pressure points and priorities. This principle tells you to identify and prioritize the stressors.
3. Define your goals. Know exactly where you are going and wten you are there. The lawyer discusses with the client exactly what the client wants and whether it is attainable. Many clients want something to never have happened, like a car accident or a divorce. The lawyer helps the client define what remedies are realistic. For example, having the person who caused the accident or his or her insurance company provide the money to pay for the rehabilitation for the injuries from the car accident. In a stressful situation, this means defining what the situation will look like once the stress is eliminated.
4. Define the path. Know exactly what to spend your time and resources on. This is the listing of evidence and witnesses needed to prosecute the case; the research needed to provide the law to support the client; and the budget needed to do all this. No one wants to pay their lawyer to interview unnecessary witnesses or hire irrelevant experts. The same applies to you fighting stress. Spending time petting a cat may give you momentary relief, but does nothing to eliminate the stress, which will return when the cat is all petted out.
5. Define the opposition. Know exactly what the other side will throw at you. No lawyer wants to be surprised at trial with the unanticipated witness or point of law. It’s embarrassing and it could destroy the carefully built case. When facing a stressful situation, you want to anticipate spots where the stress can throw something else at you.
6. Take action. Know this. The best laid out, most meticulously planned litigation must still be presented to the judge or jury. No lawyer hands in an outline or a summary. The closest is the opening statement, where the lawyer lays out the case. But the case must then be presented. When you are facing stress, this is you taking the steps to attack the stress. Sometimes this means petting the cat to calm yourself at the appropriate time.
A lawyer applies these principles in the preparation and execution of the litigation. But he or she also uses them internally and externally to control the stress of the courtroom. The difference between a lawyer and someone who simply likes to argue is that the lawyer internalizes these principles and applies them to the preparation of the case as well as to all the unexpected twists and variables that occur during the presentation of the case. You can apply these principles to attack and manipulate the stress in your life.
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