How much litigation actually happens in Big Law litigation?

[krokatron]

For the first few years of my practice after I get called, I really want to hone my trial advocacy skills, more than anything else. 

I have had a few coffee chats with Big Law Litigators, and I never really get a straight answer as to how much court time they get. The common answer I get is that they can get as involved as they want- that the opportunities are there and they get exposure to complex cases ver early on in there career. 

But compared to Ontario MAG...it doesnt seem like they get much advocacy time at all - most of their cases seem to settle well before that point. 

Can someone shed some light onto the biglaw litigation experience? I would appreciate any anecdotes.

[LMP]

In fairness trials are not exactly super common in civil lit, even outside of big law. 

It has, however, been my experince that you get far more experience in smaller (but not necessarily small) firms. 

Not just in trials but doing things like motions, case conferences, discoveries or mediations. 

It is one of the trade offs. 

[TobyFlenderson]

That's been my experience. I'll be coming up on my second year of practice in June and I've had a number of motions and would have had a handful of trials, had they not settled/otherwise been rescheduled. If nothing changes, I'll have another 4-5 trials by the end of 2025. 

By comparison, I've heard stories of articling students and first year calls (in BigLaw) that have been openly told by their firm that they won't get oral advocacy experience until their 3rd year of practice. 

[Jaggers]

If you go into labour and employment, you won't get trial experience, but you'll get small claims, arbitrations, human rights applications and the like. That's how I mostly cut my teeth, not in court.

[easttowest]

So, trial advocacy is just such a small part of civil litigation, particularly in big law, where files are often massive and take years to move along. Trials are big and fun and everyone gets excited, but most of the work is done in the years leading up to a trial, if it ever happens, since most things settle. Most of the advocacy comes on motions, most examining is done at discovery, and all of it matters if you do eventually go to trial. 

I started out in a big law lit group. Your ability to get up early will be influenced by lots of factors, such as the size of the files you’re on and their life-cycle after you join. You will not be on your feet as quickly or as often as you would be at a smaller firm, but one thing you can control is investigating how firms staff their files before deciding between big law firms (if you ever have that opportunity). I once argued a dumb little motion as a second year along with a partner and the other side brought a sr partner, 7th year associate, 2nd year and a 1st year. Only the sr partner spoke. I conducted my first examination for discovery within a few months of starting, and argued my first motion later on in my first year.

I guess a more important question is what do you want to do after you’ve honed your trial advocacy experience for a few years? 

[Rashabon]

As a solicitor (and therefore a happier and more stable person overall), I think thinking of "litigation" as "going to court", as suggested in the post title, is a massive disservice to your clients and what should be expected of a litigator. Your job isn't to go fight in court. It's to help a client address and deal with potential claims. If you're itching to go fight, do crim. Civil matters should attempt to be resolved civilly at first and learning how to settle and not waste your client's money fighting because you're itching to be proven right and show off mooting skills in a court room is a valuable skill. That being said, certain Big Law litigation firms may have robust appellate litigation practices which is useful for that sense given that resolving things is less likely/relevant at that stage, though a litigator could tell you more about how much experience juniors get doing appellate advocacy work.