Paralegals must be ready to embrace uncertainty with confidence so that they can quickly slip into the shoes of their colleagues when asked to help another team for trial at the last minute. The challenge is even more if the case is completely new to you and you do not have any experience of working in such cases. It might also happen that the sudden departure of a former paralegal of your firm creates a situation when you become the lead paralegal for a case due for trial in a few weeks, and the case is completely new to you. In such situations, the trial notebook is the only document to fall back upon and go off the blocks confidently because every nitty-gritty of the case is now known to you.
What is a trial notebook?
The notebook contains valuable information about the case gathered through research that is most useful for preparing the attorney to appear for trial and ask the most pertinent questions. The trial notebook is the basic document consisting of eight loose leaf tab divides named Voir Dire, Opening, Witnesses, Exhibits, Closing, Charge, Law, and Miscellaneous. Those not familiar with the legal vocabulary should know that Voir Dire is the preliminary examination of witnesses of the jury by a counselor judge. The contents of the notebook not only provide all the information but become the ‘brain’ of your court appearance. All the hard work that the team does in building the case while preparing for trial and every data related to it finds a place in the notebook. All information related to the in-court presentation of the exhibits, witnesses, and all other relevant information is part of the systematically recorded document.
Seeking answers to questions
During the trial, attorneys must ask questions in court, and plenty of background work by the paralegals helps them choose the right questions to drive the case in the right direction. Good attorneys will only ask those questions in court, the answers of which they already know. The answers keep cropping up during the preparation of the case by the paralegals engaged in legal research, investigating the details of the case, creating plies of memos and briefs, and performing statutory and case law research. They are busy communicating with the clerk of the court, scheduling and creating a calendar for all activities, creating exhibits, securing your evidence, accounting for billable hours, and ensuring meticulous editing of the texts.
As attorneys work on the case with their legal teams, they can detect the answers that form the basis of making a list of probable questions to ask in court.
Manage the evidence efficiently
One of the most critical tasks of a litigation paralegal is to organize the evidence and manage it throughout the trial preparation phase as well as in the courtroom. A well-organized trial notebook is the most vital tool for paralegals that helps them accomplish the tasks of evidence management most efficiently.
By utilizing the notebook, paralegals can accelerate the pace of the case and keep the trial team well organized.
Thank you, Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
