A court date has been set, the coffeepot is full, the adrenaline is kicking in, and he’s about to build a strong case to surprise the client. How sure are you that your presentation will surprise the judge and jury too?
Presenting your case in court is the culmination of all the hard work that went into preparing it. He has worked hard for his client, investigating the case, conducting legal investigations, creating stacks of reports and memos, lining up expert witnesses, scheduling and scheduling, accounting for all billable hours, securing his evidence, creating exhibits, dumping on discoveries, and making sure of that all points of I, all T were crossed. Overall, you want your case presentation to be a work of art, which is why we are here. We want to give you the frame to help you shine once you get to court.
We’ll tell you about our free trial eBook shortly, but for this short introduction we’ll take a look at the qualities your laptop should have that will help set you up for success when your case comes to JUDGMENT:
Thorrors – Have you included everything you need and then went through it all again??
Reliability – Precision aside, does your laptop format work? Is it hard copy or digital?
Icuriosity – Are your sections and forms asking you to provide the correct information??
TOappearance – Does your Test Notebook pack have any respect or is it a mess??
Logic – Is there a good intuitive flow in your material design?
Thorrors
There is nothing so fatal to a court case as a missing detail. While you don’t want to be repetitive, the more important an event, the more redundancy your friend is. You want to include everything you need and have a good cross reference. Some thoughts to keep in mind:
- Work from forms, templates, and checklists. Do not leave the assembly of the Test Notebook to chance or memory.
- Go over everything with your client and your presenting attorneys as you go. Waiting until the last minute only ensures that details and a nervous customer are lost.
- Create an “Index and Reference” section like you would find in a textbook. For example, have a list that shows your document control numbers in order along with the items they represent, list your witnesses in alphabetical order, your electronic discovery files by name, and list all other electronic file names in order with a description of its content.
Reliability
How can a laptop be “reliable”? Easy. It is usable and does everything you would expect. In this case, the goals are to store and safeguard all of your organization’s relevant data and information, and to be ready to provide you with that information exactly when you need it.
- The heart of your system should be a three-ring paper binder. Although most offices are trying to “go green” and save paper, there is a time and place for a paper-based organizer. The test is that time and that place. Folders are not locked like computers can.
- Most of us grew up with paper books and handwritten notes, and we’re still quicker to navigate a tabbed notebook than a computer file.
- Any computer you bring to court must use a reliable operating system and must have a power cord, a charged battery, and all relevant accessories.
- Your electronic copy media should come in a couple of formats just to make sure you can access each one reliably. Have a copy of the file loaded on your computer and have a copy on CD or DVD in addition to the files on a USB stick.
Icuriosity
A trial would be useless if you don’t question anyone or anything. Why? So you don’t miss a single detail. Your test notebook should do the same for you … as long as you configure it correctly.
- As the saying goes “The dullest pencil has a better memory than the sharpest mind. “- (Author unknown). Your forms and checklists will help you remember what to do with the final review of the contents of the notebook, on court day, and to make sure you have all the main items and support items you will need to make sure your court appearance is complete, thorough, organized, and successful. “When in doubt, write it down!” Don’t leave important things in memory. Set up your Test Notebook to ask you the right questions before you ask questions in brief.
TOappearance
People shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but they do. It’s just a fact of life. For example, your personal appearance should be as professional as possible, especially when you are in front of the client, the court or the opposition. Your Test Book should also maintain a professional appearance to command the respect of the jury, the trust of your client, and intimidate the opposition.
- You don’t want to spend too much money on notebooks, but make sure the ones you get look good and match the folios and binders you bring to the test.
- All the paperwork should be in some sort of labeled folder, folio, or box, and again, it should look like it all came as a set. Do not bring anything loose or loose to court.
- Neatness counts, even when only your people are viewing the content. Make sure all spelling is correct, style is consistent, grammar is good, layout follows office protocol, and all copy is legible.
Logic
The World’s Most Comprehensive and Detailed Proof Notebook will be useless unless the presenting attorney can understand the layout and logic of how everything is organized in the notebook.
- The first consideration is “Who is the lead attorney or presenter for the trial?? “Although your firm’s notebooks should be standardized, you still need to consider the type of case being tried, as well as the idiosyncrasies of your presenting attorney. Do you prefer hard copy or computer? Do you like large or small print? Do they respond well to color – coded / highlighted text or bullets?
- Although an attorney may prefer one format over another, keep two things in mind. One, there must be some uniformity and two; your redundant backups should mirror each other as much as possible. For example, if the attorney prefers to work with an electronic copy of the Test Notebook and the laptop fails, the printed folder should be placed in the same way as the printed version.
- We can’t stress this enough – work from forms, checklists, and templates.
- Although you gathered a large amount of data for your case, keep in mind that the Proof Notebook is not meant to house everything, but rather it should be the primary organizer or index of your materials and a summary of your case. Use other publications, binders, binders, and mailboxes for peripheral documents. Keeping the contents of the Test Notebook concise and concise makes it easier to navigate, which is much more logical.
Unfortunately, in such a short article we can only discuss generalities with your Test Notebook. There are so many types of cases. You can be working on either side of civil or criminal, tax or tort, paternity or product liability, contract or negligence, family or corporate liability. However, the tests do have some fundamental elements, so we will give you the framework that you will need that will help you prepare the best test book you can.
