What are the Steps Involved in Preparing for Trial?

An Irvine trial specialist can provide assistance if you are sued or if you are suing someone else to protect yourself or to protect the interests of your business.  Suing or being sued can both be stressful, time consuming and expensive processes, but it is important that you understand how to navigate the civil justice system effectively in order to make the law work for you. 

Brown & Charbonneau, LLP can put our legal experience to work for you right away in helping you to determine the best approach to take to your case.

We can help you to prepare evidence and arguments for trial so you have the best chance of a successful outcome, and we can work closely with you to put together a solid legal strategy from the start of your case until the end.  Give us a call to find out more about how we can help.

What Steps are Involved in Preparing for Trial?

When you are preparing for trial, the specific steps that you need to take will vary depending upon the nature of the case and whether you are the plaintiff or the defendant. Some of the steps that you may need to take in order to prepare include the following:

• Gathering documents: There may be many documents necessary to either prove your case or to help you to disprove your opponent’s case.  This is true not only in breach of contract claims but in many business disputes including cases related to whether a director or an executive breached his fiduciary duty. When you are preparing for a case, you may have to gather documents requested by the opposing side that are relevant to the case during the discovery process. You may also be provided with documents from your opponents in the proceedings that you will need to review to try to find relevant information.
• Finding experts: Depending upon the nature of the case, you may wish to present expert witnesses. Experts could help you to bolster the legal arguments that you are making and could help you to disprove some of the arguments that are being made by your opponents against you.
• Interviewing witnesses: If you are going to be presenting any witnesses, you will need to make sure that you know in advance what they are going to say during court proceedings. Your attorney should provide you with help doing witness prep, which involves preparing the witnesses for the trial so that the witnesses are prepared to respond to questions from the opposing party.  You will also have the chance to question witnesses who will be testifying on behalf of the opposing party. You can use interrogatories, which are written questions, in order to find out what witnesses are going to say in a trial. Depositions could also be scheduled to question witnesses under oath about what they will be saying in court.

Brown & Charbonneau, LLP can help you to take each of these different steps to ensure that you are as prepared as possible for your case. We can also help you to determine if you should try to settle your case before going to trial or if you should continue with a lawsuit.

Many civil cases do settle before the case gets to court because settling has advantages for plaintiffs and defendants, including allowing all parties involved to avoid the stress and uncertainty of a court case. However, even if you do plan to settle your case, you should still prepare as strong of a claim or as strong of a defense as possible.  Preparing a strong case will give you more leverage when trying to negotiate a settlement.

How can an Irvine Trial Specialist Help You?

An Irvine trial specialist at Brown & Charbonneau, LLP can offer the legal assistance that you need to maximize the chances of a successful outcome in civil court, whether you are the plaintiff or the defendant.  We will work with you to understand the court process, obtain the necessary evidence to make your case, and present solid arguments in court that can help you to prevail.

To find out more about how our legal team can help you, give us a call at (866)237-8129 or contact us online today.