I grew up hearing, it’s better to be born lucky than to be born rich. We all could benefit from a little luck in our lives and in the court room a little luck could go a long way.  

I was the defense attorney in a criminal case that was ongoing for over two years before I was retained.  I interviewed the client, did my research and thought, “This is an easy win. I can have this case thrown out in the next sitting”. I made my application to the Magistrate and she agreed, if the virtual complainant did not appear at the next hearing, she would dismiss all charges.  Here I was relying on luck, a criminal trial done in a matter of minutes, this was fantastic (fingers crossed).

Weeks later, at the next hearing, the complainant arrives in court. We are going to trial, but that’s okay because I have a plan B, I’m prepared for this.  As I sit in court taking notes, I notice a weakness in the prosecution’s case that would allow me to dispense with this trial a lot faster. A Mike Tyson knockout – a no-case submission. I did my research and was prepared to make my submission. To this day I cannot explain why the Magistrate refused to rule on the submission; instead, my client had to take the stand.  But, that was okay, I was prepared to do examination in chief in the event the submission was not upheld.  Yes… I’m prepared for this as well.  

My client and the two other witnesses gave evidence; the most damning evidence you can imagine. Nothing added up, nothing was corroborated.  This was no surprise… I prepared. I knew what would come out of the witnesses’ testimony and I knew the likely effect on the weight placed on their evidence, but there was little I could do.  Consequently, my client was found guilty of the charge and so entered a plea in mitigation.  For this too I was prepared. Though I “lost” the case that day, I represented my client the best that I possibly could have (damning evidence and all).  He was not given a custodial sentence, but was ordered to keep the peace for six months and the conviction was not recorded. 

Before studying law, like most people, my introduction to the law was through television. I was fascinated by the courtroom battles and how the star attorney would be on the brink of losing a case and then he would stand and quote some decided authority, completely demolishing the other side’s arguments.  As a law student I wanted to be that guy, the Harvey Spectre of the fraternity. I quickly learned that the practice of law is nothing like that.  A single case can last months and even years and then the outcome (still very satisfying if you win) lacks the drama and the wow factor which we have grown accustomed to on television.So, for the accused, there was no quick dispensation of the trial by some magical precedent that wowed the Court, neither did luck show up at any time.  It took weeks of trial and many nights of research. It was preparation that prevailed.  This is the reason for sharing this article. Sometimes in life a bit of luck comes along and we come out on top but in every situation it is preparation that gets the job done.  Oprah Winfrey summed it up quite nicely for me: “I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn’t been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn’t have been lucky.”