What kind of career opportunities are there for new trial consultants, in general?
There will always be opportunities for people who have the right talents, skills, education, and experience to excel in helping trial attorneys and litigants to maximize their work in accurately assessing the risks in their disputes and in doing their best to persuade judges, juries, and arbitration panels.
At the same time, trial consulting is one of the most competitive fields in America in two respects. First, the competitive nature of trial advocacy and litigation motivate trial attorneys and their clients to want to take every advantage in preparing themselves for trial. Therefore, they justifiably demand the assistance of trial consultants who can demonstrate the most reliable and effective methods and skills to help them. Most of our clients tell us that when they are looking for a trial consultant, they closely scrutinize the reputation, experience, education, and skills of the people they will consider. The bottom line is, only trial consultants who can provide them with the comfort level they need, will even be considered for the job.
Second, there are only a few new trial consulting jobs available each year compared with thousands of people who are interested in becoming trial consultants. Part of the low demand for new trial consultants is due to the general job satisfaction that most full-time trial consultants feel in their work. In addition, 90% of trial consulting firms are very small businesses with only 1-2 trial consultants. Their organizations resemble medical or counseling practices. Finally, court statistics tell us that the number of law suits that are being filed each year has rapidly dwindled over the past 5-10 years.
Having reviewed the good news and the bad news, we have some encouraging thoughts to share. All of our trial consultants have been faced with the same challenges you face - and they made it to the top. They worked hard to study trial advocacy and psychology all the way through graduate school and then applied what they had learned through back-breaking work as apprentice trial consultants. They demonstrated their own allegiance to the effectiveness of our court system and have helped our clients perform at their maximum level, while at the same time, continuing to always display loyalty, integrity, and an insatiable appetite for learning more about human nature.
Our best advice is to follow your heart and your head.