Arnold & Porter’s Trial School Spotlighted in The National Law Journal
The National Law Journal recently featured Arnold & Porter’s annual trial school in the article, “AI-Proof Work: How One Big Law firm's Trial School Trains Associates,” which highlights the firm's long-standing commitment to and continued investment in preparing associates for courtroom training through immersive, hands-on training at a time when artificial intelligence is transforming many aspects of legal practice.
The article notes that more than 50 associates, partners, counsel, and administrative professionals participated in this year’s program, which combined workshops with five simultaneous mock trials led by more than 30 partners and counsel serving as coaches, judges, and witnesses.
The program is directed by partners Jim Herschlein, co-chair of the firm's Litigation practice, and Pamela Yates, a partner in the Products Liability Litigation practice, who also served as a coach. Jim has led this program for over a decade, and in the article, Jim emphasized the firm's commitment to associate development. "It’s part of our obligation to help develop the skills of our associates,” he said. “This program really gives us the chance to help them learn and advance their careers.”
Ken Chernof, co-chair of the firm’s Litigation practice, explained why trial skills development remains an essential area of investment despite advances in AI. “AI may replace some aspects of [the litigation] practice, but it is not going to replace stand-up trial work,” he said. “The associates that we have and the recruits that we’re talking to want to know that they’re going to be trained in the thing that AI can’t train them in, which is standing up in court with a jury in the box, with a judge on the bench, and being able to cross-examine a witness effectively.”
On the firm’s commitment to organizing the trial school in-house instead of outsourcing to an external program, Ken commented: “[It] gives our partners a chance to see our associates in action; our associates learn from the partners they work with. It’s a great kind of dynamic that produces, we think, even better results.”
The article also highlights the significant commitment of the firm's trial lawyers to the program. As a former Arnold & Porter associate who participated in the trial school, partner Diana Sterk served as a coach to one of the trial teams this year and spoke on the value of the experience for young attorneys, noting that it can be the “first time for a lot of associates to really understand all of the pieces that go into trial and to be thinking about it more holistically.”
Read the full article (subscription required).
