Stephen Embry recounts Scott Turow’s description of trial work and his own courtroom experience: trials demand brutal preparation, constant anxiety, and acceptance of losses, but the opening statement and courtroom focus are what draw lawyers back.
You cannot change the facts — you can only control how you present them — and losing trials is part of trying cases.
The podium moment — the opening statement and courtroom focus — is where fear fades and lawyers feel fully engaged.
# Trials Are Hard Stephen Embry opens by citing a Scott Turow passage that captures what it really feels like to try cases. The piece rejects TV glamour: trial work starts with intense preparation, constant worry, and sleepless nights. Lawyers worry about introducing evidence, admissibility, examinations, demeanor, and whether they're up to the task.
# Anxiety Doesn't Go Away With Experience Embry writes that experience does not eliminate the nerves. He recalls a mentor who seemed calm in court but told him candidly that everyone runs to the bathroom five times before trial. The point: seasoned trial lawyers feel the same fear and pressure as newcomers. Losing a trial does not mean you weren't good — it means you tried cases.
# Loop The anxiety continues after court. Lawyers ruminate about questions they asked or didn't ask, objections, body language, and whether they smiled at the jury enough. Embry calls much of that worry wasted because once a moment has passed you cannot change it. The useful question is not about every missed detail but whether each action supports the larger story you are telling.
# Storytelling Matters More Than Microscopic Perfection Embry emphasizes a familiar courtroom adage: people may not remember your words, but they remember how you made them feel. The priority in courtroom work is crafting a coherent narrative that resonates with jurors. Legal technique and objections matter, but only as they serve the overarching story.
# Cases
# From Podium to Laptop
# Practical Takeaways for Trial Lawyers
Embry's reflection combines a novelist's depiction with a practitioner's candid experience to describe trial work as grueling preparation that culminates in an intense, clarifying courtroom moment.
I recently finished reading one of Scott Turow’s legal thrillers. As most of you know, Turow is not only an author, but he was also a lawyer, and a trial lawyer at that. At one point in the book, he captured in a single paragraph what it’s really like to try cases. To be a... Continue Reading
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