Dear Fellows,

The most effective trial lawyers are humble!

Television portrayals depict trial lawyers as arrogant egomaniacs. Contrary to this pernicious myth, the most effective trial lawyers are humble.

Why I asked LCA Senior Fellow Meryl Macklin about the importance of humility.

Meryl is a leader of Bryan Cave’s renowned M&A Disputes practice group, where she specializes in trial and resolution of high-exposure cases. In fact, as lead counsel, Meryl successfully tried high-stakes multi-week jury trials for corporate giants including Oracle, Union Pacific, and Clearwave Communications. Meryl previously served on her firm’s executive committee and served as chair of her firm’s litigation department. Meryl is also the incoming chair of the Complex Commercial Litigation Institute.

Given these accomplishments, one might expect Meryl would not be the paragon of humility. Yet, Meryl remains modest and exemplifies the virtue of humility in trial practice—not just because that is her character, but also by design because humility makes her more effective.

Recently, Meryl graciously shared her views on the central importance of humility to successful trial practice. I encourage you to watch our HERE.