That is why a federal judge’s recent comments chastising a prestigious law firm for sending a junior lawyer to represent Facebook Inc. at a routine hearing are rankling those who say newly minted lawyers need every possible chance to gain experience outside the office.

Last Thursday, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis called it “outrageous and irresponsible and insulting” that Kirkland & Ellis LLP didn’t send a senior lawyer to his Brooklyn courtroom to discuss a pair of cases alleging Facebook facilitates communication among terrorists. “Next time, they send a partner,” Judge Garaufis said, before abruptly ending what was meant to be a scheduling conference. Judge Garaufis, Kirkland and Facebook all declined to comment on the courtroom incident.

The comments cut a contrast to a growing movement among judges around the country to actively push younger lawyers into court, in recognition of a diminishing number of jury trials and changing economics of law firms that often make it difficult for young lawyers to get out from under mountains of office work.

In the pyramid structure of most large law firms, lawyers in their first few years of practice are tasked with researching and writing client memos and helping more senior lawyers prepare for the crucial moments in litigation, though they are rarely on the front lines themselves.

“People become trial lawyers because they want to be in court—not sit at desks,” said Kathi Vidal, a principal at Fish & Richardson in Silicon Valley who is leading a movement to get younger lawyers to speak more often in court.

That effort centers on encouraging judges to make it clear that it isn’t only all right to send junior lawyers to court, but it is welcomed. So far, a couple dozen judges in California, Massachusetts and Texas have issued court orders to that effect, with some even saying they won’t schedule a hearing on certain routine issues unless junior lawyers are the ones presenting the arguments.

A day before Judge Garaufis dressed down Kirkland, U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco expressed annoyance at large law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP for wanting to send too senior of a lawyer to a coming argument in a class action against Fitbit Inc., a wearable-fitness-tracker startup.

The judge had asked both sides to find lawyers within their first six years of practice, which the plaintiffs’ side said it could do, but Morrison & Foerster said only someone with eight years of experience could handle the assignment. Judge Donato said in a court order last week that he would still go ahead with the arguments, but might “adjust the time allocated to each side to account for any disparity caused by defendant’s selection of attorneys outside the Court’s specifications.”

A spokesman for Morrison & Foerster said the firm supports the judge’s position to develop young attorneys and feels it is doing that by sending the eighth-year associate “who has worked on this matter from the beginning.”

Ms. Vidal and others say there are multiple reasons younger lawyers rarely get courtroom opportunities.

When companies face “bet the company” cases, they often don’t want to risk sending anyone but the most senior partner to court. And as demand for law firms’ services remains tepid, partners are also eager to keep client relationships and work for themselves.

This creates a cycle, says Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Gregg Costa in Texas, where only the most veteran lawyers handle the diminishing number of trials. “If the veteran lawyers of tomorrow get no trial experience, there will be even fewer trials in the future,” he said.

Judge Costa said that before being elevated to the appellate court, he encouraged younger lawyers to speak in his district courtroom, and that it was often more efficient because they were more familiar with the facts of the case than the senior partner.

A few law firms buck the trend of keeping young lawyers stuck behind their desks. Litigation boutique Susman Godfrey LLP, for instance, routinely sends lawyers with just a few years of experience to handle arguments and hearings.

In a case on appeal for client Steven Lamar, who is suing for royalties he says he is owed for his role designing Apple Inc.’s Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, the law firm sent a fourth-year, female associate, Davida Brook, to argue the case in a California court.

The court recently sided with Mr. Lamar and revived the lawsuit.

“If we just gave it to an old, crusty white dude, what good does that do for the institution?” said Susman partner Steven Sklaver.

(Published by The Wall Street Journal - September 25, 2016)