Derek Hollingsworth, partner and trial lawyer with the Houston firm Drumheller, Hollingsworth, & Monty joins us on today's show. Derek talks about COVID's impact on criminal defendants, taking chances with your career, and taking ownership in the case.

His firm/practice

Started the firm two years ago
Broke off from Rusty Hardin & Associates after 15 years
Mix of civil litigation and criminal defense. Everything is a trial related practice.
Got into criminal law by 1) doing the lawyer on loan program with the DA's office, and then 2) leaving his large firm job to go to the DA's office in order to get trial experience. (That is his advice for anyone wanting to do criminal defense).
Rusty Hardin had a nice mix of criminal and civil litigation.

COVID UPDATE (As of 12/17/20)

COVID hit the breaks on most of their work
Cases are driven by pressure points that have to do with trial dates. If there is no pending trial date, there isn't motivation to do things.
If cases slow down, your cash flow can slow down too. They were about to expand before COVID hit, and they likely will once things pick back up
Compassionate release motions are an option to get clients out of jail due to COVID
Speedy Trial Act being tested in federal court where there are strict rules; state court not as much right now
Zoom/video has been
His law partner just handled an entire arbitration over Zoom:
Everything was confidential and only one person per room, with an exception for those who were identified and approved
Major challenge was keeping an eye on all the boxes of participants, and he caught a witness covering his mouth talking to someone off camera in the room who hadn't been approved/identified
Stopped the proceedings and called it out

Advice to lawyers in practice

Don't be afraid to take chances
Talking about leaving the large firm for the DA's office
Be nimble
Even he stayed for several years at Rusty Hardin before starting his own firm even thought he knew it was what he wanted to do. That's a testament to the great/quality firm Rusty created.
Own the entire issue/case
Don't build a little fence around what your are comfortable with
Don't just do only what was asked...once completed, ask the question "what's next" and take initiative
Be intellectually curious and enthusiastic, and ask questions
Pitch ideas of what you might need to do next to help move the case along

Advice to lawyers who are job seeking

For small firms, they often need someone with enough experience that you're not starting from scratch, BUT also not so much experience or set in their ways that they can't adapt to how this firm does things
Communicate and get along well with others
Hard to figure out these things on a resume or even in an interview
Are they legitimately interested in the firm (i.e. ask good questions!)
At Rusty Hardin, they liked people who weren't "handed everything"

Final Thought:

Don't be afraid to take chances; nobody is born to be a lawyer or knows exactly what they want to do. Be willing to pivot.

Rapid Fire Questions

One trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: initiative
What habit has been key to your success: planning/confidence
Favorite app/productivity tool: Clio
Favorite social distancing activity: time with family
Favorite legal movie: A Time To Kill and My Cousin Vinny

Thanks again to Derek Hollingsworth for joining us on the show!