Paralegal Career For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 14

Where the Rubber Hits the Road: Trial Performance

IN THIS CHAPTER

Organizing a trial strategy

Selecting the jury

Presenting the case

Collecting on judgments

Properly preparing for and carrying out the various tasks involved in trial practice require enormous amounts of the paralegal’s time and energy. When your employer specializes in litigation, you’ll concentrate on making sure your supervising attorney is ready for trial, and you’ll be on hand to assist both during and after trial. In this chapter, we describe the trial process from developing a trial notebook and selecting a jury to presenting a case to a court and collecting a judgment.

Creating the Ultimate Source of Information: The Trial Notebook

Even before you know whether the client’s case is going to trial, your office should begin to develop a trial notebook (which contains all the information and documents pertinent to a client’s case). Make no mistake about it: The best law firms get the jump on early trial preparation, and the paralegal plays a fundamental role in that process. It’s all about preparation ...