As AI takes on the routine work that once filled a young lawyer's first years, how does the next generation still develop into great trial lawyers? In this Attorney Spotlight Q&A, McKool Smith Principal Robert Manley shares his take on how AI is reshaping the profession, what it still takes to build real courtroom skills, and how the firm gets young lawyers in front of juries early in their careers.
Question: Robert, you talk to a lot of law students who want to be trial lawyers. What’s the biggest thing that’s changed in the last few years for someone starting out?
Robert: AI. It’s changed the practice of law more than anything I’ve seen in my career. AI can now do a lot of the work young lawyers used to do — research memos, document review, first-draft briefs, etc. That should scare young lawyers a little. But it should also excite them.
Question: That sounds like a good thing. Isn’t it good that young lawyers don’t have to do that grunt work anymore?
Robert: You’d think so. But here’s the problem: that “grunt work” was never just grunt work. It was of part of how young lawyers built the foundation for real trial skills. You learn to think like a trial lawyer by wrestling with the record, by drafting and redrafting, by doing the reps. If AI does all of that faster and cheaper, young lawyers are quietly being deprived of the very experiences that used to turn them into trial lawyers.
Question: So, if that foundation is disappearing at a lot of firms, what should a law student actually be looking for when they’re picking a firm?
Robert: I tell every summer associate and young lawyer the same thing: find a firm that actually tries cases and can prove it. Find a firm that can prove it trains its young lawyers. And find a firm that can prove it puts young lawyers in the courtroom. Not promises — proof.
Question: Does McKool Smith check those three boxes?
Robert: All three. We try a lot of cases and have won as many or more top 100 verdicts as any other law firm in the country — and that’s just counting the cases where we represent plaintiffs. We try an equal number of cases for defendants.
Every year, on the firm’s dime, we send young lawyers to the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. It’s not optional, and it’s not a token gesture — it’s a real investment in building trial skills the old-fashioned way: learning by doing.
And we send young lawyers to try cases by themselves. We put them in as first-chair counsel on pro bono jury trials in their first few years of practice. That’s real experience, real pressure, real juries — early in their careers. Last year alone, seven of our young lawyers became first chair trial lawyers.
Question: What about other opportunities young lawyers might get?
Robert: Since we do a significant amount of contingent fee work, I see our young lawyers getting more deposition, courtroom, and trial experience, faster, than many partners at some big firms get in their entire careers.
Question: If a law school student is reading this, what would you want them to know about McKool Smith?
Robert: We have a handful of seats in every incoming class. We’re looking for young lawyers who want to devote themselves to this profession — who want a professional home that will actually invest in their success, not just their billable hours. You won’t be anonymous here. We know your name, and we’re paying attention to how you’re growing.
Question: Why should someone choose this path at all? It sounds demanding.
Robert: It is demanding. It’s challenging. It takes relentless effort. It’s often disappointing. But it is incredibly rewarding — and it’s incredibly important. As trial lawyers, we’re often the ones standing alone in the breach between justice and injustice. This country needs good trial lawyers now more than ever.
Question: Last question — with everything AI can now do, why does this profession still matter?
Robert: Because trying a case to a jury is something AI will likely never be able to do. So, that moment in a trial — standing in front of twelve people asking them to do justice — still belongs to us. If you want to have that, come build your future as a trial lawyer with us.
