Louis Cristo

Louis Cristo

President, Trevett Cristo

Years in current role:37

What do you enjoy most about being a litigator?

I can’t think of an area of practice that could be more challenging. The breadth of the subject matters which you are expected to master is vast. Your client’s dilemma, either personal or business-related, commands your complete understanding, if you are doing the job you are obligated to do. Then, you are required to compress that reality into a narrative readily digestible to a judge or jury, notwithstanding your opponents’ contradictory rendition! This is both challenging and exhausting.

What do you see as the biggest changes in the legal industry in the next 3-5 years?

One of the biggest challenges facing the trial bar, in my opinion, is the simple erosion of civility. Clearly, the lawyers of today are being disconnected from the humanity of the practice of law that was so prominent in our legal community in years past. The benefit of knowing your opponents personally and engaging productively, without unnecessary hostility, inured to the benefit of your clients. Litigators now, unfortunately, are losing that opportunity. COVID has hastened this decline. A good deal of a litigator’s success is based upon the ability to negotiate a beneficial resolution of a case. The splintering of the community of the trial bar surely is an impediment to this effort.

What trial are you most proud of in your career?

I am most proud of my first trial. A young attorney thrown into the cauldron of trial work, surviving it, and coming back with a desire to actually do it time and time again, never forgets that first effort.