May 16, 2025

“The fact that you worry so much tells me that you’re a great trial lawyer. Why? Because it means you care. You worry because you care — because you want to get it right, because you want to do right by your client, by your partners, by your paralegal. You want to get this right for everyone involved, because you care about justice.”

– Sari de la Motte

Podcast Transcript

Hello, hello. Welcome to another episode of From Hostage to Hero. Sari de la Motte here with you. We are talking today about the seven indisputable signs that you’re a great trial lawyer, even if you don’t feel like it, because I know that so many of you don’t feel that you are. I know this not only because you tell me, which is a privilege, but also because I can sense it from many of the signs I’m going to discuss today.

Yes, some of the very things you do because you believe you’re not great are actually the things that make you great. If you’re feeling down, wondering, “Why the hell am I in this business?” or thinking you really aren’t cut out for this, today is a love letter to you from Mama Sari, your Finnish mother, to tell you that you are a terrific, not just a great, but a terrific trial lawyer. Here are the seven reasons I know that to be true.

The first reason, which I noticed when I entered this field many years ago, is that you’re addicted to learning. You read everything. You attend everything. You buy everything. Why? Because you want to be great. What I want you to recognize is that by doing this, you already are great. You think it’s the information in those pages, the words at those seminars, or the content on those DVDs that will make you great if you incorporate it. I’m here to tell you that the fact that you’re even learning and wanting to improve is what makes you great.

In many industries, that simply isn’t true. People often phone it in, go to work, and call it a day. They’re not constantly learning or putting themselves in front of consultants, including me, to be critiqued. Your willingness and eagerness to get it right makes you stellar, amazing even. That alone is a sign you’re a great trial lawyer because you want to learn. Every new thing that appears on the market interests you. You’re on top of it. I salute you, because growth, one of my top three values, is a big deal to me. I think that’s why you and I get along so well: we both love to learn, and you know that when I learn something, I bring it right back to you.

The second sign, and it may sound odd, is that you worry. I don’t want you worrying; so much of my job is to help you stop. Yet the fact that you worry tells me you’re a great trial lawyer. Why? Because it means you care. You worry because you want to get it right for your client, your partners, your paralegal, everyone involved. You care about justice. That’s huge. Many people don’t realize that you are literally the last thing standing between the regular folk and corporate greed. You do this day in, day out, through the boring parts, the exciting parts, and, most importantly, the scary parts. You care about all of us, about your communities and the world. That is an indisputable sign of greatness.

Number three: you’re on the right side. As a plaintiff trial attorney, you fight for human values, for the little guy. You’re David versus Goliath, the last resort for people who have been hurt or have lost loved ones. You’re willing to stand up for them and put up your own money to fight for someone else.

That brings me to number four: you take risks. The financial risk in this game of trial lawyering is enormous, and most laypeople don’t understand it. They have no idea they pay nothing unless you win, and if you lose, the loss is on you, the attorney. That is a massive risk, and because you’re willing to take it, that makes you great. Many attorneys are not willing to do that.

Number five: you go to trial. My clients do, at least, and many of you have told me that joining H2H finally made you want to go to trial, that the thing you’d feared most now excites you. Choosing to try cases, despite the risk, sets you apart from 99 percent of lawyers. Many could stay in corporate or defense work, or just settle cases. Settling isn’t wrong or bad, but it’s not always the best decision for the client, and you know it. You choose to try the case, so you’re great.

Number six: you prepare, sometimes more than you probably should, yet you prepare the hell out of a trial. You read, practice, hire consultants, and do everything necessary because you want to get it right. That tells me you’re a great trial lawyer.

Finally, number seven: you keep going, even when you lose. In spite of defeat, you’re still willing to get out there and get your ass beat again and again, as many times as it takes, because you understand this is a long game and we’re in it for the bigger win.

You may look at all these things—being a learner, caring, standing on the right side, risking, trying cases, preparing, and persisting—and say, “How does that make me great? I don’t feel great.” Notice something important: each one is a choice. You could choose not to read everything. You could choose not to care. You could go to the defense side, play it safe, refuse to try cases, under‑prepare, quit altogether. But you choose not to. Those choices make you different from so many people, and that difference is what makes you successful.

So much of what I teach is that you don’t have to do as much as you think. You don’t have to read every new thing, worry so much, or prepare endlessly. You can rest in your greatness. When you do that, you’ll start getting the external results you seek.

If we look at the CTFAR model—Circumstance, Thought, Feeling, Action, Result—everything I’ve listed falls in the Action line. These are actions you choose. When you relax the Thought line and act from a place of understanding and accepting your greatness, resting in it, you’ll get the Result line you want: the verdict.

I point out these seven indisputable reasons to show you: you are great. Now, can you accept it? Can you live into it so you can gain the rewards you’ve worked so hard for? The only thing stopping you is not accepting your greatness. You keep looking at the Result line, thinking, “Until I get that verdict, I’m not really great.” You’ll never get it until you believe you are great. I’ll keep singing this song as long as it takes, because when you start believing, the results will come.

You are great. I know it for a fact. Your job, your work, is to know it too. I can help. Keep listening. Join us in the Crew.

All right, my beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful, great trial‑lawyer friends, we’ll talk next week.