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Hooking up associates with trial work
Los Angeles Associate Aliza Reder craves the adrenaline rush and fast-paced action of trials. But with more cases ending in summary judgments and out-of-court settlements these days, it's increasingly difficult for young lawyers like Reder, a second-year associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, to get that coveted trial experience. Last month, the Los Angeles-based litigation firm took the unusual step of creating a trial practice coordinator position. The move is a key part of the firm's strategy to ensure that all associates try a case by the end of their second year at the firm. "People who come to our firm are clamoring for trial experience," partner John Quinn said. "With jury trials becoming rarer and rarer, how are we going to train young trial lawyers?" The 262-lawyer firm hired Mindy Alger, a Los Angeles attorney, to maximize those opportunities by lining up pro bono cases and teaming associates with partners for week-long stints on their trials at no cost to the client. Alger previously worked at The Public Law Center in Santa Ana, Calif., where she was the directing attorney of family law. Alger heard of Quinn Emanuel's new position through her husband, Timothy Alger, a partner at the firm. ... A decline in federal court trials was documented in a 2004 article by University of Wisconsin Law School professor Marc Galanter in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. From 1962 to 2002, the number of civil trials dropped from 5,802 to 4,569, even as overall dispositions multiplied fivefold.
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