What qualities make an effective trial attorney?

I believe the most important quality is an internal drive within yourself to be competitive, and to be determined to win at whatever you set out, or to accomplish whatever it is you set out to do. I think this is the first quality.

The second quality is, I think, empathy and to feel for, and understand, and believe in your client. I have great faith in the jury system. I’ve done well over 100 jury trials, and I’ve never seen a jury that I thought could be bamboozled, and I think the first thing they look at, obviously, is your client, and the second thing is you, whether you believe in your cause, and why you’re there. When you’re on a contingency fee, I learned early on, in the very beginning, that you should only represent people that you believe in, and that’s probably the reason for most of our success. We have had great clients.