This article is for litigators—those New York Law Journal readers who went to law school with a strong desire to represent clients in their legal disputes equipped with the expertise and experience to solve their problems. If you identify with this description, then you likely began your career eager to master the art of litigation. A litigator must not only be able to analyze the facts and law to determine a strategy, but they must be able to write and deliver persuasive arguments, negotiate with opposing counsel, reach favorable settlements and, ultimately, prevail at trial before judges or juries.
If this is your goal, and it should be, there’s no better way to gain these skills and the confidence needed to become a litigator than by taking on a pro bono case. I was fortunate to learn that pro bono is a gateway to litigation expertise and professional success when I took on my first pro bono case.
