Preparing for Trial in the McKinney Dog Bite Case

When preparing for a trial, the strategy and steps needed to be taken depend on the specifics of the case. The stronger the case, the more likely a lawyer will want a short, simple trial. When someone is looking for a lawyer after suffering a dog bite, they should obtain an attorney who has trial experience and knows how to prepare for one.

Many lawyers make the mistake of overthinking the trial. They think that the trial has to be long and convoluted. The best trials are those that have been reduced it down to their simplest essence. If a lawyer can reduce a trial to its simplest essence, then they have a winner. Taking complicated things and making them simple is what some lawyers try to do in trial preparation.

What Paperwork Does a Lawyer Receive From the Defendant Before Trial?

Prior to the trial, lawyers receive production answers from the defendant. Most of the time, if the production answers were inadequate, the lawyer has to compel them to fully answer the production. For a dog bite case, a lawyer will receive paperwork such as medical records, records from the dog, any demands that had been written, any notices that had been given by other people of the prior dog attack, and their insurance information to ensure that they had adequate coverage for all the damages.

Preparing Clients for Trial

A lawyer prepares clients for trial by making sure that they understand what is going to happen and what is going to be asked. The lawyer may take them to the courthouse where the trial is going to be in advance and familiarize them with the courtroom. The lawyer may let them sit in the witness chair and at the counsel table. An attorney may also do a listing exercise with the client to understand their fears and help alleviate those fears so they go in confident and knowing what it is that they have to prove.

Having a confident, well-prepared client makes all the difference in the world in a trial. The last thing an attorney wants to do is take a client who is not confident with the process, or who is maybe asking a million questions at inappropriate times, which could actually distract the lawyer from doing their job.

What to Expect From Trial

Trial is a living and breathing thing.  How a witness is viewed, what admissions occurred, how the jury reacts to a piece of evidence or an argument in real time has to considered and the case has to be adjusted on the fly.  It is hard work and an inexact science.  Sometimes evidence that the lawyer has spent tons of time and money on has to be jettisoned or adjusted.  It can be unnerving and intimidating; but it can also be thrilling and awe inspiring.  At trial, you simply have to hold on for the ride, knowing that the preparation will require change in presentation; knowing that some opportunities will be missed while others will be seized.  You have to give up control, focus on what really matters and fight to insure that the things that really matter, or really should matter, are presented as effectively as possible to the jury.