Skilled Adversaries Can Make Attorneys Grow

Lawyers typically face all kinds of adversaries as they handle legal matters for clients. Some adversaries are pushovers and only do the bare minimum needed to promote their clients’ interests. Other adversaries on routine matters might “go through the motions” and do nothing out of the ordinary in bringing a legal matter to a close. However, some adversaries go above and beyond in their representations of clients, and this might frustrate counterparts since they need to work harder to defend their clients’ interests against “hard-charging” adversaries. Although lawyers might not like dealing with such adversaries, such interactions can make lawyers grow and learn new skills.

Most of the cases in my post-Biglaw career have been somewhat routine. The vast majority fall into regular patterns depending on the kind of case, and my adversaries do not surprise me too much in how they represent their clients’ interests. However, I had two adversaries in recent years that went above and beyond for their clients, and this impacted how I approach my own representation.

I was once dealing with a commercial matter, and the other party had an initial lawyer who was relatively predictable.  This adversary filed decent, but not stellar, papers. The matter proceeded as I predicted. After the other party lost a key ruling, they decided to hire new counsel. Perhaps because this new lawyer had something to prove, the attorney went above and beyond by filing interesting motions, making compelling arguments, and drafting papers I had not seen much since my days in Biglaw.

Since this adversary was taking the litigation to a new height, I had to react in kind to match my adversary’s energy. I also spent considerable time drafting exceptional papers and making out-of-the-box arguments. If my adversary drafted a motion, I made sure my opposition papers were longer and better supported. Along the way, I discovered new defenses and arguments that I used in different cases I handled later in my career. Even though this adversary kept me on my toes, and made me work harder than I would in a more routine case, I was happy for the experience since it allowed me to grow and learn new information.

Another time, counsel substituted into a case and the new lawyer took the representation to a level that was not pursued by the previous one. This case was litigated in a forum in which I handled fewer cases, so I encountered a lot of the unique issues about this forum for the first time during this case. I responded to motions I had never handled before and was exposed to the quirky rules of this forum that had never come up in the handful of cases I had handled in this forum before. The case resolved on the eve of trial, so I was able to witness an exceptional practitioner in this forum up close for years by handling this case with a particularly skilled adversary. When I handle cases in this forum now, I have much more confidence because I have experiences from this case.

Someone once told me, that it is called the “practice” of law since lawyers learn constantly about legal strategies from the matters they handle. Although lawyers might not want to acknowledge it, adversaries are some of the best teachers since they can expose lawyer to new arguments, and if a lawyer faces skilled adversaries, such counterparts can force attorneys to apply their legal acumen to new levels. Accordingly, lawyers should more often wish they were exposed to capable adversaries since this can have a positive impact on their own legal acumen.

Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.

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