Making a Case for the Cost-Effective Use of Trial Consultants

By Charlotte Morris

Although few consultants were talking openly about it at the time, around 2009 the business of law was suffering along with the rest of our global economy. For many lawyers, the difficult economy meant cutting costs, which often included cutting trial consultants. While I sweated through that summer about whether to take a part-time job at Starbucks so that at least my habit for half-caff mochas could be subsidized, the most encouraging e-mails I received were from attorney-clients who said "I'm thinking of you. I wish I could hire you. But my case load is down, my budgets are slashed and I'm just trying to get through the recession like everyone else." Strangely, my misery loved company.