Joey Sampson, partner and litigator with McCathern in Dallas, joins us on today's show! Joey talks about COVID's impact on public venues, expediting your learning curve, taking advantage of resources like podcasts, and resiliency as a key character trait for lawyers.

His firm/practice

Four offices (Dallas/Frisco/Los Angeles/Houston)
Grown from a 9 lawyer firm in 2007 to over 40 today
Broad civil litigation practice plus now family law
He is more focused on insurance coverage and construction defect litigation
Frisco office is at The Star (Dallas Cowboys HQ who is also a client)

COVID 19 update (as of November 19th, 2020)

Still in the office in Dallas
Clients are settling into the new normal, but dealing with COVID-related issues such as employee matters
Some litigation around construction defect peaked in July/August
He is part of a group, IVAM, that meets regularly on public venue issues
Expects to see litigation in the coming months/years from people who claim to have gotten COVID from attending an event in a public venue
But most of the cases are being brought against companies by employees or passengers against cruise lines
But how do you prove causation and where you actually contracted the virus?
Venues are definitely focused on this and trying to keep people safe
Have to adapt to using the technology (Zoom depos/hearings); he had never heard of Zoom before COVID
encourages your preparation because you have to have your documents ready to go for the shared screen, etc. ahead of time
Texas will need to extend rules to enable further use of the technology
After COVID
Likely that hearings/depos will continue to take place on Zoom (saves the drive time, money, etc.)
Document-heavy depos/hearings, and those with certain witnesses, will still likely be in person
The costs of litigation will push this
Judges have adapted for the most part and some really like it

Advice to lawyers in practice

Don't use youth as an excuse; expedite your learning curve
Always strive to get better
Step up
If you work at it, you can become a seven year lawyer by year five
Ex. get better at depos by studying great interviewers (podcasts are great for this: listen to Charlie Rose or Howard Stern conduct an interview and learn different approaches)
Also listen to great trial lawyers like Mark Lanier
Do a Zoom CLE and take advantage of those resources
Pick up tips from anywhere!
Also become a better writer by reading great writing
Key for a young associate to stand out
Watch trials and hearings of local courts on YouTube
Be a leader; be the first to volunteer for projects
Don't send drafts to partners; send it to them ready to file

Advice to lawyers in the job search

Traditional model of reviewing resumes and interviews are a poor way to hire; it's hard to identify the best people from that
How do you tell if someone is resilient and empathetic/compassionate, which research shows is the best indicator of someone who will succeed
Traditional methods are often a coin flip
Angela Duckworth book "Grit" and corresponding Ted Talk

Final thought

Pay attention to your mental health. He is in recovery now; addiction is widespread in the legal profession, and we need to talk about it more. (Resources - LCL; TLAP)

Rapid fire questions

Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: resiliency/grit
What habit is key to your success: always learning
Favorite app/productivity tool: 1 Password
Favorite social distancing activity: golf
Favorite legal movie: To Kill A Mockingbird / My Cousin Vinny

Thanks again to Joey Sampson for joining us on today's show!