American Board Of Trial Advocates

The American Board of Trial Advocates is an association of accomplished trial lawyers and judges dedicated to the preservation of the civil jury trial as guaranteed by the Seventh Amendment of the United States Constitution. The organization emphasizes professionalism, ethics and civility and members are selected with these attributes in mind. In order to be eligible for nomination to membership a lawyer must have tried to verdict at least twenty civil jury trials or meet alternative minimum requirements such as trying ten civil and 20 felony criminal jury trials to verdict. The number of lawyers who have tried a significant number of civil jury trials to verdict is shrinking and the ABOTA membership is becoming an increasingly more elite group. New members are secretly nominated and voted upon by existing members. In 2012 Earl Drott was notified that he had been nominated and voted in to membership in the American Board Of Trial Advocates.