New Trial Lawyers Section Chair Brett French Wants To Assist Attorneys Outside of the Courtroom
3.13.2025
Brett French, the new chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Trial Lawyers Section, wants to help attorneys to take advantage of the association’s new membership model – especially the free access to Continuing Legal Education courses.
“I think that that was a massive change that really will help members, and will help entice individuals who are not members to become members,” he said. “So that accessibility to CLEs was a really great endeavor. And I’m looking forward to pushing that [and] making sure membership is aware that they have those resources.”
French also praised the complimentary two section memberships. “I do feel that the new membership model will be received as the bar listening to their members and making a change that the membership wanted,” he said. “So the voices were heard. And I think that’s really positive to feel that when there was something people had hoped they could get… that it happened.”
A solo practitioner based in the Capital Region, French has a private practice focused on civil and commercial litigation as well as personal injury matters. He also acts as counsel for the School Administrators Association of New York State, representing the group and its members in hearings, arbitration, and collective bargaining.
His wife, Lisa Taber French, is an attorney as well. She is a partner at Sciocchetti Taber in Latham, with a practice focused on commercial real estate. The two have a 5-year-old son and a newborn daughter.
“The focal point is our kids,” French said. “And programs and activities for our kids. So our personal lives and our social lives revolve around that.”
Knowing the struggles of being a trial lawyer with a young family, French wants the Trial Lawyers Section to help attorneys going through similar issues, which is part of the reason why the section’s Fall meeting is in Orlando – a city with a lot of attractions for the whole family.
“Yes, it’s going to be sunny and warm in October, and that’s a nice place to be,” he said. “But we’re trying to have a location that is also family-friendly. So as a bar association, I think we need to recognize that attorneys are more and more focused on their families, well-being, and mental health, and making sure that those things blend together… I’d like to see more programming where the locations or the topic areas are focused on being able to be a trial lawyer while also being a family person.”
French also wants to focus on mental health and attorney well-being as a particular need for trial lawyers.
“It is a very high-stress, anxiety-inducing career,” he said. “It’s very adversarial… With programming, I would like to hear from a panel of trial lawyers and talk about strategies: How do you compartmentalize the stresses of being a trial lawyer and those anxieties, while also still being present with your colleagues, and present with your family?”
