Great advocacy teams can out perform great advocates. The best advocacy usually comes from lawyers who collaborate with other lawyers. Some of the following examples demonstrates the advantages teams have over individuals:
- Wisdom In Numbers: No single lawyer can possess the full breadth of expertise across all aspects of a case, but a team can bring together a diverse array of skills and knowledge. Whether it's developing a legal theory, facts, or reasoning.
- Challenging Ideas: It’s important to have someone test the strength of your case, and come up with alternative legal and factual theories.
- Experience: There is no replacement for experience, and the collective experience of many attorneys will be greater than that of any single attorney. Someone may have experience with a specific issue, judge, opposing counsel, or witness.
- Learning: Seeing how other attorneys approach an issue may shed light on how to handle similar issues.
- Increased Confidence: An attorney is more likely to be confident in their legal analysis after having multiple attorneys look at the case.
CONCLUSION
When dealing with highly specialized fields, "wisdom in numbers" only holds true if the team members possess sufficient expertise. In an ideal scenario, before trial I would recommend having at least three attorneys review the case and two attorneys try it. In the end, while individual talent is crucial, the combined power of a team will often produce the best results.
