Monday Mentors with Houston Litigator Will Thomas

Will Thomas, partner and litigator with McDowell Hetherington in Houston, is our guest on today's show! Will talks about COVID's impact on trial work, being your case's own toughest critic, and demonstrating grit in a job interview.

His firm/practice

• 50 lawyers spread over four offices around the country, with the HQ in Houston
• Boutique litigation
• Most known for life insurance litigation
• Most of Will's practice is with oil/gas companies
• Falling gas prices have an impact
• Changing discovery rules (lowering thresholds) could impact how cases move through the process and perhaps go to trial more

COVID Update (11/12/20)

• Already lean when it comes to staffing, and already was working with multiple offices around the country so the transition to work from home was pretty easy
• Now in a hybrid mode: if you want to come up to the office you can (with protocols), but you can work from home if you want
• In Spring/Summer there was doubt as to how much work could get done without trials and without in-person hearings/depos/etc., but this has turned out to be one of the busiest years they have had.
  • Lots of litigation spurred by COVID
  • Courts adapting to online hearings
• Not one case has settled at mediation since COVID started
  • There is something said for people to go to a place, block the entire day, invest the time, as a drive toward settling
  • Virtual mediations don't raise the cost of not settling much, so there is less incentive
  • Resolutions still happen; they just take a bit longer
• Depositions are tough on Zoom
  • Will wants to be in the room with his witness; the witness wants that too
  • They have used their office or even a rented out hotel conference room to have Will and the witness in the same room together
  • Getting up, putting on a suit, going to downtown Houston, creates some mental and attitudinal things for the lawyer and the witness that don't exist on Zoom (w/ COVID protocols like taking a COVID test, quarantining, etc. in advance)
  • Zoom can lead to relaxing and informality, and you don't want your witness to slip into that mindset and say something they shouldn't.
  • There can also be distractions (kids, dogs, etc.)
• Hearings haven't changed much, but there are more of them since they are much easier to schedule
  • Judges are very prepared
  • We can probably continue to have more/video hearings post-COVID

Advice to lawyers in practice

• Start your day early; Will gets in around/before 7am
  • As an associate he always got into the office before the partner that he did a lot of work for
  • Get your day started on the right foot
  • Being there early led to answering a partner call to work on a case; that client now gives Will about 40% of his business
• Know that you aren't going to win them all, and that is okay (can be hard for the typical law student/lawyer to handle)
  • Can't take it personally
  • You have to let it go and keep after it; can't fret/dwell
• Be critical of your side, your story, your facts, etc.
  • Make sure you know all the holes and are asking all the questions
  • You don't want to be surprised later, especially by the other side
• Have original ideas about the case
  • It doesn't matter if they wound up getting used, it shows creativity and that you are thinking/caring about the case.
  • Think beyond what your assignment is
  • Don't be afraid to share your ideas!
  • Don't default to just meeting the task/expectations; take ownership of the case!
• Re: business development
  • Work hard on your cases and show that you have value
  • Find attorneys to work for who will value/include you, and make yourself indispensable to them
• Re: work/life balance
  • In the first few years, work probably takes priority
    • This is a practice, and the only way to get better is to put in the time
    • To go to trial and be a better lawyer, you have to put in the time

Advice to lawyers in job searching

• Show that you are someone who can work autonomously
• Show that you want to take charge and run cases
• Show that you are going to work hard and that you want to win
• Grit - Were you on multiple advocacy teams in law school? Did you write onto law review? Did you work in law school?

Final words of advice: This is a hard job! If it was easy, everyone would do it. There is a lot of stress. People look to you. You have to be a good writer, good in the courtroom, creative, sales/marketing. Night crew of associates to work/eat/socialize together!

Rapid Fire Questions:

• Name the one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: creativity
• What habit has been key to your success: write down your next 24-48 hours of projects/tasks each day
• Favorite app/productivity tool: Apple Notes
• Favorite social distancing activity: waking the (new) dog
• Favorite legal movie: Bridge of Spies

Thanks again to Will Thomas for joining us on the show!