By ANNEMARIE FRANCZYK
Buffalo Law Journal

To some, litigators and trial attorneys are not the same thing.

But those who teach law locally are trying to blur the difference for good reason: A multidimensional attorney is good for the practice of law and attractive to law firms that want new-hires ready for work on Day One.

What's the distinction? Litigators perform pretrial work such as depositions and discovery, gathering evidence and negotiating settlements. Trial attorneys present the case before judge and jury.

"A lot of litigators today never saw a courtroom. They do things related to litigation but they don't do trials," says Charles Ewing, a University at Buffalo law professor. "Anybody who calls themselves a litigator has to do a trial."

And further, "In settlement negotiations, if the other side knows you won't go to trial, they have the advantage."

In fact, any attorney needs a basic understanding of litigation and trial work, according to Ewing.

"Whether you are a transaction attorney or a litigator," he says, "you have to have an eye on the possibility that there may be litigation in the future."

All this was the motivation behind changes in UB's law school curriculum. Beginning in the fall semester, all students will be required to take a third semester of courses that teach legal analysis, writing and research as part of the Legal Skills Program, which Ewing directs. A half-dozen new-hires have been added to the faculty to help teach the courses.

Overall, the program like never before coordinates and integrates longtime skills courses with existing theoretical courses leading toward a better-balanced lawyer.

"We're training lawyers," Ewing says. "We can't just give them skills in a vacuum. They have to know how to apply it to the law."

He calls the changes a critical move that places UB among the nation's top law schools and gives graduates an advantage in a tough job market.

A facet of the program is trial advocacy, where students can perfect their form - or confront their fears - of public presentation.

It's not unusual for someone headed for the law to be apprehensive about courtroom appearances. One Buffalo bankruptcy attorney professes to have curled up in bed the morning of her first trial, pondering not showing up. Personal injury lawyer Chris O'Brien began his career as a tax attorney to avoid trial work - and possibly embarrassing himself in the process.

But O'Brien gave up "unfulfilling" tax work after a year and ventured into litigation and the courtroom. Today, his firm O'Brien Boyd P.C. is a decade old and he is among leadership in the trial attorneys' group American Association for Justice. He also helps direct UB's litigation skills courses.

Some trial lawyers are born, O'Brien says, but others can be made - as long as they have the intelligence and the desire.

"Fear of public speaking is the No. 1 fear in America. Faculty recognize this and want to help students get over it," he says. "They may not have the (courtroom) presence, but we can work with that. The key is to get them on their feet right away. You've got to get them on the bike."

In the trial-techniques course, students build analytic, writing, research and presentation skills and finish the semester with a crescendo by trying a case. Top students of the techniques course are selected - others can audition - for placement in the trial competition program that sends the UB team to trial competitions from New York City to Los Angeles. Buffalo hosts the largest trial competitions in the country every Veterans Day weekend.

Such experience can lead to a job, O'Brien says.

"If there are two candidates and one has trial competition and had success and the other has no trial experience, all things being equal, that person would not be considered for the job," he says.

That's where he found Dan Morris. O'Brien brought his former student back to Buffalo from New York City, where he had been defending insurance companies. Now, Morris sues insurance companies as head of O'Brien Boyd's no-fault department.

"When I left UB's mock trial team, I was more prepared than almost any young lawyer I'd seen. I knew how to handle witnesses, judges and juries," Morris says. "I wouldn't have needed a first chair. I could handle any trial that came my way."

Annemarie Franczyk is an assistant professor at Buffalo State College and a regular contributor to the Buffalo Law Journal.