Law students spend hours grinding through trial and appellate case reports. They spend hours learning the intricacies of contracts and torts—more hours in trial practice seminars. But seldom is there any emphasis or assistance on how to conduct an interview of a person who may be a helpful or harmful witness in litigation for a client. Lawyers, as a general rule, are not good interviewers. If they receive any training in this area it is to craft questions for the courtroom. No training is given on how to approach a person outside the courtroom, on a construction site, at the person's home, or in a lawyer's office, one-to-one, face-to-face.

This important skill is vastly overlooked in law school training or in-house training at a law firm. The reason is that most professors and senior partners are not good at it, and thus place little value on interviewing witnesses. This is a curious fact, as good interviews are the basis for the start of any worthwhile lawsuit. New lawyers take note, this is a valuable skill and, once mastered, will find itself into your routine. This skill is also valuable for interviewing clients.