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Dress Rehearsals; Small Firm Advantage; A Matter Of Perception;
The decline in civil trials shouldn't have a detrimental effect on new associates and law students hoping to become trial attorneys in the view of three local litigation department chairs. Up-and-coming lawyers, those partners say, just need to realize that the longstanding perception of what defines trial work has changed, largely due to the advent of alternative dispute resolution. "Arbitration can provide good trial experience," said Francis Dibble Jr., who heads up the litigation department at Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas. Associates at the Springfield-based firm, Dibble added, also get extensive experience at evidentiary hearings and by interviewing witnesses. In addition, Bulkley Richardson trains new lawyers through mock trials that are used to prepare for big cases. "That gives attorneys some experience," he said. A decline in federal court trials nationwide 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 five-fold. According to the Annual Report on the State of the Massachusetts Court System, the number of civil cases filed in Superior Court fell in 2003 to the lowest level in eight years. The number of lawsuits filed in the Superior Courts peaked in 1995 at 34,566 and declined to 25,106 last year.
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