Is it true that only a small percentage of Lawyers get to make arguments in Court?

Question

I saw a report for potential Law Students that only 20% of Lawyers get to make arguments in court.

Answer 1

I was a practicing lawyer for about ten years. During that period of time, I was in court almost on a daily basis. I am not surprised that statistically only 20% of lawyers appear and make oral arguments in court. To make arguments in court, one must have the personality of a litigator. This embodies the ability to find, support and argue either side of an issue. Oftentimes, many lawyers do not want to take the chance to perhaps appear unprepared or are unwilling to put themselves in a position of losing an argument. My uncle has been a lawyer for nearly 35 years and can still count on two hands the number of times he has appeared in court. There is a school of thought that suggests that only those unwilling to compromise go to court. Sometimes a lawyer has a client who will not let them compromise and will only accept the decision of a court or jury. Interesting question though as to why so many people would spend so much money to become a lawyer only to remain in the office and not go to court.

Answer 2

Absolutely. Many lawyers have agreed that they will only agree, and never disagree, when they get into court. It makes things go faster.

Seriously. Most lawyers never see the inside of a court room until they get divorced or charged with DUI.

For instance, you probably don't want to hear that your real estate lawyer is in court. Or the lawyer who drafts your buy/sell agreement or puts together your stock issuance package. Most law involves reviewing and preparing documents, negotiating with other lawyers, etc.
Only litigators spend a lot of time in court. Think criminal matters, family court, insurance etc. and even they probably only spend 10% of their time in court.

Answer 3

True.

Many areas of law do not require courtroom appearances. Contracts, tax law, real estate, wills etc. Frequently, specialists - litigators - go to court when these matters end up there.

I have practiced law for a LONG time and I appeared in court only two or three times. That's more than many attorneys do.

Some NEVER go to court.

Answer 4

It depends on what type of law the attorney is practicing. If he is a personal injury attorney, for example, most of his cases will settle out of court and he will hardly see the inside of a courtroom at trial. If he is a criminal or family law attorney, he will be in court almost every day. If you are talking about arguing in front of the Supreme Court, that rarely happens. Alot of attorneys are also just hired to do legal research and writing and will never see a courtroom. I hope this answer helps!

Answer 5

Lots of lawyers do things like family law, corporate law, tax law or real estate or support the lawyers that actually appear in court. Most of your politicians are lawyers.

Answer 6

The lawyers the will see the inside of court on trials are called Trial Lawyers, and yes, there are many more lawyers that handle legall problems that dont see a trial ever. 20percent seems about right.

Answer 7

i dont know if the percentage is correct, but yes it is only a small percentage of attorneys that actually get to make arguments in court

most civil cases will settle outside of court and hardly any criminal cases actually go to trial

Answer 8

maybe, I expect that there are lots of lawyers behind the scenes who don't need to appear in court and of course lots of cases get settled out of court.

Answer 9

YES