The ABC's of Civil and Criminal Trial Preparation in New Jersey

A trial is the culmination of the preparation of the case - preparation that has been designed from the start of discovery to develop the facts and evidence to win at trial. The trial attorney must start at the end (what needs to be proven at trial) to identify the elements of each claim and defense and then design a Blueprint of how s/he will develop and establish the facts and evidence to support the claims and defenses of the case. Like any building process, there are multiple stages to design, execute, assess and redesign the Blueprint and strategies. The final Blueprint is a trial notebook that defines trial themes and organizes the presentation of the facts and evidence by witness to prove the facts needed to win. An effective trial book keeps the trial attorney focused and instills confidence that s/he is prepared and ready.

In this program, partners at Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C., a premier New Jersey boutique law firm, will help the practitioner learn to develop a Blueprint as it pertains to written discovery, fact deposition and expert discovery, dispositive and pre-trial motions, rules of evidence, trial issues and more when litigating New Jersey cases.

Learning Objectives:

1. Outline the Blueprint of the case, which becomes the blueprint for the trial
2. Determine the theme for the trial
3. Prepare the witness examinations and exhibits required to explain and prove the case
4. Create a Trial Book to organize witness examinations, documents and exhibits
5. Present and repeat the trial themes from opening statement to closing argument