Preparing a Case for Trial: A Practical Checklist

Litigation > Trial Practice and Juries | Published 26 November 2025 - Updated 6 July 2026 | UpLaw - uplaw.us

How to Use This Checklist

Work the phases in order, on the timeline in Phase 1. The items that most often go undone — instructions, the verdict form, and the motion for judgment as a matter of law — are scheduled early here deliberately.

The doctrine is in trial practice and juries. The narrative orientation is twelve strangers and a story. The templates are in the trial preparation and jury selection toolkit.

Phase 1 — The Trial Plan

☐ Write the theme in one sentence. If it takes two, keep working.

☐ List the three facts that prove it and the three facts the other side will emphasize, with your answer to each.

☐ Confirm the jury demand is intact under Rule 38 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or confirm the case is being tried to the court under Rule 39.

☐ Identify which claims and defenses will actually be tried, and abandon the rest. Cases with one theory outperform cases with three.

☐ Set the order of proof and assign each witness to a lawyer.

☐ Map each element to the evidence that proves it, and identify any element with a gap.

☐ Confirm the court's practices: time limits, jury selection method, sidebar procedure, technology, juror note-taking, and whether jurors may submit questions.

☐ Build the countdown calendar from the trial date backward, with the tasks in Phases 2 through 8 assigned dates.

☐ Update the case valuation and confirm the client understands the range and the cost.

Phase 2 — The Pretrial Order and Stipulations

☐ Draft the pretrial order as the trial plan, not as a formality. It supersedes the pleadings.

☐ State the claims and defenses to be tried, precisely.

☐ Negotiate stipulated facts aggressively. Every stipulation saves time and signals reasonableness.

☐ List every witness, including those who may be called. A witness omitted is generally a witness excluded.

☐ List every exhibit, with a description sufficient to identify it.

☐ Exchange exhibit objections and resolve as many as possible by agreement.

☐ Exchange deposition designations, counter-designations, and objections, and obtain rulings before trial so testimony plays without interruption.

☐ Identify the disputed legal issues so the court can resolve them before instructions.

☐ State the estimated trial length realistically, and plan to finish under it.

Phase 3 — Motions in Limine

☐ File separate motions by subject, not one omnibus motion. Separate motions get separate rulings.

☐ Move to exclude under Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence where probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice, confusion, or waste of time.

☐ Move on character and other acts under Rule 404.

☐ Move on subsequent remedial measures under Rule 407.

☐ Move on settlement communications under Rule 408.

☐ Move on expert opinion under Rule 702; see challenging an expert under Daubert and Rule 702.

☐ Move on improper lay opinion under Rule 701 and on relevance under Rule 401 and Rule 402.

☐ Request that counsel approach before any provisionally excluded subject is raised.

☐ Circulate the rulings to every witness outline and to the client, so nobody violates an order accidentally.

☐ Request sequestration under Rule 615 at the start of trial.

Phase 4 — Exhibits and Foundations

☐ Build an exhibit chart: number, description, sponsoring witness, foundation required, objection anticipated, admission status.

☐ Identify the foundation for every exhibit and how it will be laid. Authentication is governed by Rule 901.

☐ Obtain certifications for business records under Rule 902, which eliminates the need for a live custodian. Do this six weeks out; certifications take time.

☐ Confirm the business records elements for any record offered under Rule 803: made at or near the time by someone with knowledge, kept in the ordinary course, and made as a regular practice.

☐ Identify any hearsay problem and the exception relied on, under Rule 801, Rule 802, Rule 803, or Rule 804.

☐ Where a statement is offered for a non-truth purpose, plan to say so and request a limiting instruction.

☐ Address originals where required by Rule 1002.

☐ Prepare four sets of exhibits: court, witness, opposing counsel, and the working set.

☐ Distinguish demonstratives from evidence, and address the distinction in the pretrial order.

☐ For electronic evidence, confirm the authentication method; see getting website evidence admitted.

Phase 5 — Witnesses

☐ Serve trial subpoenas with enough lead time, and confirm travel for out-of-town witnesses.

☐ Prepare each witness on process first: where they sit, who asks questions, what an objection means, and that they should stop talking when one is made.

☐ Give the standing instructions: listen to the whole question; answer only that question; "I don't know" and "I don't remember" are complete answers; do not guess or estimate; correct an inaccurate premise before answering; do not volunteer; answer in your own words.

☐ Spend most of the session on cross, not direct.

☐ Show the witness every prior statement — deposition, declaration, email — that will be used against them.

☐ Walk through every exhibit the witness will sponsor, including the foundation questions.

☐ Explain sequestration so the witness understands they may not watch the trial.

☐ For experts, rehearse the reliability foundation under Rule 702 and the basis rules of Rule 703, and confirm the expert can explain the method in three minutes to a lay audience. See retaining, disclosing, and challenging an expert witness.

☐ Confirm personal knowledge for every fact witness under Rule 602, and that any opinion satisfies Rule 701.

☐ Prepare the client to sit through testimony without reacting, and establish that concerns are written down and handed over at breaks.

Phase 6 — Jury Selection

☐ Learn the format — attorney-conducted, court-conducted, or a hybrid — because preparation differs completely.

☐ Draft the questions you would ask, and the shorter written set you will submit if the court examines.

☐ Define the strike criteria in advance: the experiences and attitudes that would make a juror unable to decide this case fairly.

☐ Prepare cause-challenge follow-ups: can you set that aside completely, and would you want a juror with that experience deciding your case?

☐ Prepare a seating chart and assign someone to take notes on every answer.

☐ Know your peremptories. In federal civil cases, 28 U.S.C. § 1870 provides three per party, with the court able to allow more or to treat multiple parties as one.

☐ Record a contemporaneous, neutral reason for each peremptory strike, tied to voir dire answers, before any objection is made.

☐ Prepare to make or answer a challenge under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, which applies in civil cases through Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co., 500 U.S. 614, and to gender-based strikes through J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B., 511 U.S. 127.

☐ For an objection, build the comparative juror record — a similarly situated juror not struck is the strongest evidence at step three.

☐ Understand the pool's composition rules under 28 U.S.C. § 1861 and 28 U.S.C. § 1866 if a challenge to the array is contemplated.

☐ Confirm jury size and unanimity under Rule 48, and whether alternates will be seated.

Phase 7 — Instructions, Verdict Form, and the Rule 50 Motion

☐ Draft the instructions at least ten days out, from the pattern set, modified only where necessary with authority attached.

☐ Draft the verdict form at the same time, because the instructions must tell the jury how to answer it.

☐ Choose the verdict type under Rule 49: special verdict, or general verdict with written questions.

☐ Separate the theories on the form so an invalid theory does not vacate the whole judgment.

☐ Separate the damages categories so an unsupported category can be set aside without a new trial.

☐ Include routing instructions on the form telling the jury where to go after each answer.

☐ Provide for comparative fault percentages summing to one hundred, where applicable.

☐ Prepare objections to the opponent's instructions, to be stated on the record before delivery as Rule 51 requires. Failure forfeits the issue.

☐ Draft the motion for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50 before trial, specifying the judgment sought and the law and facts supporting it, element by element.

☐ Prepare the renewal so it can be filed within the time the rule allows after verdict.

Phase 8 — The Notebook and the Courtroom

☐ Assemble the trial notebook: theme page; pretrial order; in limine rulings; voir dire and seating chart; opening outline; one tab per witness with outline, exhibits, foundations, anticipated objections, and impeachment materials with page and line; exhibit chart; objections grid; motions; instructions; verdict form; closing outline.

☐ Build the objections grid — one page listing the likely objections with the rule and a one-sentence response, drawn from Rule 401, Rule 403, Rule 602, Rule 611, Rule 701, Rule 801, Rule 901.

☐ Test the technology in the courtroom if permitted, and prepare a paper fallback for every demonstrative and video clip.

☐ Prepare demonstratives that can be understood in five seconds.

☐ Confirm logistics: parking, security screening times for the client and witnesses, war room, printing, and where the team will eat.

☐ Assign roles: who examines, who handles exhibits, who takes the record, who watches the jury, who manages witnesses.

☐ Prepare a one-page trial schedule for witnesses so nobody waits four hours or misses a call.

Phase 9 — During Trial

☐ Invoke sequestration at the outset under Rule 615.

☐ Track time used against any limit, daily.

☐ Follow the exhibit sequence every time: mark, show opposing counsel, hand to the witness, identify, establish knowledge, offer, obtain a ruling, then publish.

☐ Object rarely, state the ground, and stop.

☐ Make an offer of proof whenever evidence is excluded, on the record and outside the jury's presence, as Rule 103 requires.

☐ Request limiting instructions where evidence comes in for a narrow purpose.

☐ On cross, use leading questions only, one fact per question, and stop when the admission is obtained.

☐ Move under Rule 50 at the close of the opponent's evidence, specifically.

☐ Object to instructions on the record before delivery, stating the matter and the grounds.

☐ Read the transcript nightly, update the exhibit chart, revise the next day's outlines, and cut something.

☐ Object to any improper closing argument contemporaneously and request a curative instruction or a mistrial as warranted.

☐ Object to an inconsistent verdict before the jury is discharged. After discharge the cure is a new trial.

☐ Request a poll of the jury where appropriate.

Phase 10 — After the Verdict

☐ Renew the motion under Rule 50 within the time allowed, with an alternative request for a new trial.

☐ Consider a motion under Rule 59 for a new trial or remittitur of an excessive award.

☐ File the bill of costs and any fee motion on the schedule Rule 54 sets.

☐ Calendar the appeal deadline immediately, and note how post-trial motions affect it.

☐ Assess preservation issue by issue: was there a timely, specific objection; an offer of proof; a specific and renewed sufficiency motion; a stated instructional objection? See civil appeals and taking a civil appeal.

☐ Order the transcript promptly.

☐ Begin enforcement planning if you prevailed; see collecting a judgment or protecting exempt property.

☐ Debrief the team while the trial is fresh, and file the notes with the notebook for the next one.

Red Flags in Trial Preparation

⚠ An exhibit with no identified sponsoring witness or foundation. ⚠ A business record with no certification and no available custodian. ⚠ A witness not listed in the pretrial order. ⚠ An omnibus motion in limine with no separate rulings. ⚠ Instructions not drafted a week before the conference. ⚠ A general verdict form in a multi-theory case. ⚠ Damages categories combined on the verdict form. ⚠ A motion for judgment as a matter of law that has not been drafted. ⚠ Technology never tested in the courtroom. ⚠ A witness who has not seen their own deposition.

Common Mistakes

1. Treating the pretrial order as a formality.
2. Arranging exhibit foundations at trial instead of six weeks earlier.
3. Filing one omnibus motion in limine.
4. Preparing witnesses on direct and neglecting cross.
5. Failing to record a neutral reason for each peremptory strike.
6. Drafting instructions the night before the conference.
7. Failing to object to instructions on the record before delivery.
8. Making a general rather than specific motion under Rule 50, or failing to renew it.
9. Failing to make an offer of proof when evidence is excluded.
10. Accepting a general verdict where multiple theories are in play.
11. Failing to object to an inconsistent verdict before discharge.
12. Missing the short deadlines for post-trial motions.

Related Documents

• Trial practice and juries: a comprehensive guide to selection, examination, objections, and verdicts
• Twelve strangers and a story: how a civil trial actually unfolds
• The trial preparation and jury selection toolkit
• Federal civil trial practice: from final pretrial conference to verdict
• Preparing for trial: a pretrial order and trial readiness checklist
• Expert witnesses and scientific evidence: a comprehensive guide
• Challenging an expert under Daubert and Rule 702: a practical checklist
• Retaining, disclosing, and challenging an expert witness: a practical checklist
• Damages and remedies: a comprehensive guide
• Documenting and proving damages in a civil case: a practical checklist
• Civil appeals: a comprehensive guide
• Taking a civil appeal: a practical checklist
• Getting website evidence admitted: a practical authentication checklist
• Collecting a judgment or protecting exempt property: a practical checklist## The Countdown Calendar

When	Tasks
8 weeks	Theme; claims to be tried; witness assignments; element-to-evidence map; court practices confirmed
6 weeks	Pretrial order drafted; witness and exhibit lists final; every foundation identified
5 weeks	Business records certifications requested; stipulations proposed; deposition designations exchanged
4 weeks	Motions in limine filed, separately by subject; expert reliability motions filed
3 weeks	Trial subpoenas served; witness travel confirmed; exhibit sets prepared
2 weeks	Instructions and verdict form drafted together; motion for judgment as a matter of law drafted
10 days	Witness preparation sessions, cross-weighted; objections grid built
1 week	Demonstratives prepared; technology tested in the courtroom; voir dire and strike criteria set
3 days	Trial notebook assembled; opening outlined; logistics confirmed
Day before	Reread the theme page and the verdict form. Add nothing.
Nightly	Transcript; exhibit chart; revised outlines; cut something
Post-verdict	Renewed motion; new trial motion; costs and fees; appeal deadline calendared

Worked Example: The Six-Week Rescue

A case is set for trial in six weeks. Counsel has been focused on a summary judgment motion that was denied. The trial file consists of the pleadings, discovery responses, and eleven boxes of documents.

Week one. The theme is written — three drafts before it fits in a sentence. Two of four claims are abandoned. Every element is mapped to evidence, and the mapping reveals that one element of the surviving claim depends entirely on a document nobody has authenticated.

Week two. The pretrial order is drafted and exchanged. Stipulations eliminate eighteen exhibit objections. A certification is requested from the defendant's records custodian for the critical document — obtained in nine days, which would not have happened if the request had gone out in week five.

Week three. Four separate motions in limine are filed. The most important seeks to exclude evidence of the plaintiff's prior unrelated claim under Rule 403 and Rule 404. It is granted, which removes the defense theme.

Week four. Instructions and the verdict form are drafted together. The verdict form separates the two remaining theories and three damages categories. The motion under Rule 50 is drafted, and drafting it reveals a proof gap on one element — corrected by adding a witness still on the list.

Week five. Witness preparation, cross-weighted. The client's deposition is reviewed line by line with him; three answers he had forgotten become the focus of his preparation.

Week six. Notebook assembled; technology tested; voir dire prepared.

The case settles four days before jury selection, at a number well above any prior offer. That is the ordinary outcome of visible readiness, and the preparation was not wasted: it produced the settlement.

⭐ Key insight. Every item in that six weeks is a checklist task rather than a talent. The one that mattered most — requesting the records certification in week two — takes fifteen minutes and would have been impossible to fix in week six.

The One-Page Trial Plan

Keep this at the front of the notebook and reread it every morning.

Theme: ______

What we must prove: 1. ______ 2. ______ 3. ______ Proved by: 1. ______ 2. ______ 3. ______

Their three best facts, and our answer:

1. ______ → ______
2. ______ → ______
3. ______ → ______

The five exhibits that matter: ______

The three witnesses that matter: ______

What we ask the jury to do: ______

What we will not do: [the arguments abandoned, the exhibits cut, the witnesses not called — written down so nobody adds them back mid-trial]

The last line is the most useful and the most neglected. Trials expand under pressure, and a written record of what the team decided not to do is the only reliable defense against a Wednesday-afternoon impulse to add a witness, chase a collateral point, or argue something the theme does not support.

Final Reminders

☐ Admissibility is decided before trial. The pretrial order, the in limine rulings, and the certifications determine what the jury ever sees.

☐ Preservation is a trial task. State the ground, make the offer of proof, be specific under Rule 50, renew it, and object to instructions before delivery.

☐ Simplicity persuades. One theme, five exhibits, three witnesses who matter.

☐ The verdict form is the argument's structure. Separate the theories and the damages categories.

☐ Prepare as though the case will be tried, and negotiate from that position. Cases prepared for trial settle better and try better.

☐ Keep the notebook after the trial ends, with the debrief notes filed inside it. The next trial's preparation starts from a set of forms and lessons rather than from a blank page, and that accumulated file is the single most valuable asset a trial practice builds over time.

Nothing else in this checklist compounds the way that file does across a career.

Build it from the first trial, and every later one starts weeks ahead.

That head start is what experience actually consists of in this field.