Baby lawyer to all more experienced lawyers in litigation: how many years of practice did it take you until you were able to draft pleadings at a significantly quicker pace? Examples welcome.

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I came here to ask similar question, but basically how long it took until they felt comfortable in the profession.

I would like to know the answer to OP’s question too.

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3-4 years? But it depends, I’ve been mulling over difficult issues in an appeal for a few weeks and haven’t made much progress actually writing anything. Straightforward discovery motion? Can knock that out in a day.

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There’s no “timeline” here. It largely has to do with how often you are drafting that type of pleading/motion, what jurisdiction you are in, whether you are familiar with that partner’s (or even client’s) preferences. For example, if I’m working with a particularly involved client, it might take me 2x as long to draft the answer because I’m tailoring what I would normally do to their preferences. Also, if I’m doing something I don’t normally do (say preliminary objections in state court), it will take longer because I spend time reviewing the rules, samples, and case law.

Don’t worry too much about this! It is a slow and gradual process, and it will be second nature soon enough! Also, even partners and the most senior associates will look back to good samples and prior work that they were happy with when drafting - don’t think for a second that most of them can bang out a perfect motion to dismiss without any reference!

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Yep. I’m convinced that some older lawyers do not know how to actually draft a motion or pleading. I laugh when some of them actually try. It’s like a short-hand, repetitive, spastic stream of consciousness.

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Not long if you have a firm document database where you can recycle basic or common arguments and then just edit and add on your own. (Don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to.) A large or more novel motion takes more time, of course. That a huge “it depends”. 3 years in, I say I might take anywhere between 2-6 hours (including reaearch) on a more standard motion (discovery motion or motion in limine) and maybe a few days for the first full draft of a motion for summary judgment (maybe not including research. sometimes it requires 1-2 days of research depending on the case) and a few more days for all of the supporting papers.

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I agree it depends on what it is. And you definitely need samples.

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Should also add motions to the above question.

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