Preparing for civil trial

A civil action begins when a party to a dispute files a complaint. The plaintiff may also ask for an injunction to keep the defendant from doing something.

On the other hand, a criminal case involves the breaking of a law. In this instance, the government prosecutes an individual for violating the law. Whether or not you were the one who filed the suit, start preparing by reading the complaint. This is the document the judge will be reading.

The purpose of this read-through is to determine how you will prove if you are the plaintiff or disprove if you are the defendant the allegations spelled out in the complaint. Whether you filed the complaint or not, you will have to gather evidence to prove your case. According to PeoplesLaw.

There are certain legal elements that must be proved if your goal is to enforce your contract. Preparation is key and helps win trials. Every case should be thoroughly analyzed at least 90 days before trial, although days is better to avoid missing anything important. Here are a few things to keep in mind when preparing for trial:. The Trial Preparation Checklist — The purpose of the checklist is to ensure that all critical elements of trial preparation are addressed depositions, witnesses, subpoenas, charts, photos, evidentiary issues, liability, damages, jury instructions, etc.

You can also use interrogatories, or written questions, to find out information from other witnesses that may potentially testify at trial. Finding experts: In many cases, you will want to present experts to testify on your behalf or to disprove the expert testimony presented by the opposing party.

You need to find the right experts with impressive credentials who can explain concepts to a jury in a way they will understand. Reviewing documents: You will be expected to provide relevant documents to the opposing side during discovery and they will be expected to also turn over documents to you. It is important to carefully review the information available to you in order to try to find evidence that helps to support your case.

Electronic discovery has become more important than ever in civil litigation , and the sheer volume of papers that must be reviewed to find relevant information can be astronomical. You need to ensure that you have a skilled attorney who can help to manage the e-discovery process as well as all of the traditional documents and information obtained.

It probably contains deadlines and other requirements you must comply with before trial. You probably have deadlines and other requirements as the arbitration approaches. Also familiarize yourself with the arbitration rules. Click to visit the ADR Commissioner website to learn more. Entire books have been written about trial preparation, trial strategy, and trial procedure. Below, you will find general information on some things to be aware of as trial approaches, such as: Settlement conferences Pretrial conferences Trial memoranda Subpoenas for witnesses.

But if you seriously intend to represent yourself at trial, go to your local law library and ask the librarian for assistance finding simplified guidebooks and instructional videos on trials, evidence, and witness examination. Better yet, hire a lawyer to represent you! For library location and contact information, click to visit Law Libraries.

For information about hiring a lawyer, click to visit Lawyers and Legal Help. At any time in a civil case, the judge can order the parties to meet in person with a judge who is not assigned to the case to attempt to settle the case before trial.

You can also ask the judge to set a settlement conference in your case! EDCR 2. Sometimes settling the case for terms you can live with is better than taking the risk of losing everything at trial.

A settlement judge can give you and the other side a frank evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses in your case. You and the other side might be too close to the case to see it realistically. How a settlement judge conducts a settlement conference varies from judge to judge. The settlement judge will usually tell you what he or she expects and how the settlement conference will be conducted. These briefs are confidential, and only the settlement judge sees them.