John Maher: Hi. I’m John Maher. Today I’m here with Sarah Lavoie, a partner at Burns, Bryant, Cox, Rockefeller & Durkin in Dover, New Hampshire. Today we’re talking about preparation for court. Welcome, Sarah.
Sarah Lavoie: Hi, John. How are you?
What To Do When Preparing for Court
John: Good. Sarah, if a claim I make goes to court, what should I do in preparation for court?
Sarah: That’s a good question, John. No matter what the nature of your case is, I would first recommend that you have a knowledgeable and experienced attorney representing you if you’re going to go to court.
If your claim’s going to be litigated in the New Hampshire court system, it’s important that you have an attorney who’s comfortable in the courtroom, who’s been in the courtroom, and who is an experienced litigator.
With a personal injury claim, for example, when your case is filed in court here in New Hampshire, you’ll typically not be going to court right away.
There will be an exchange of information between the parties. That’s called discovery. You may have to give a deposition or answer interrogatories as part of the discovery process, and you may participate in what’s called alternative dispute resolution in the form of mediation. That would all happen before a trial.
John: That’s all outside of a courtroom?
Sarah: Correct. Going to court for a trial to be heard by a judge or a jury would occur if the case didn’t settle before the trial, either through direct negotiation between parties and/or counsel or through the mediation process.
Preparation for court is really an ongoing process in that you’re working with your attorney from the first day you retain him or her to prepare for the trial, if that’s where the decision and resolution of your case is going to occur.
There are various court rules, evidentiary rules, statutes, and other laws that will affect how your case is and should be presented to a judge or jury. It’s important to have an attorney to help you navigate through these rules and laws.
I’d recommend that you speak to your attorney, ask your attorney questions, and listen to your attorney’s advice. That will help you to be prepared for court.
Discussing the Details of Your Case
John: How in detail do I need to discuss my case with my attorney before court? Do I need to know every little detail?
Sarah: Really, it’s your attorney’s job to prepare you for court. Your attorney is going to know, or should know, your case inside and out, but it’s important that you know your case, as well. It’s important that you know what to expect going to court. Of course, there can always be surprises at a hearing or a trial.
The more prepared you and your attorney are, the more you can anticipate and limit these surprises, and be prepared for these types of surprising questions, and present your case in the best possible light to a judge or a jury.
Going to court can understandably also cause people to worry excessively, because it’s not something that our clients do regularly like we do, which is another reason that detailed preparation is important. Preparation can significantly help clients reduce or eliminate their anxieties, or worries, or questions about going to court hearings or trials.
What Can You Expect The Court Date To Be Like?
John: What should I expect the court date to be like? Can you walk me through that? For example, who will be there, how long will it be, what types of questions will I be asked, etc.
Sarah: That’s going to depend on a number of factors, including what type of case it is, the nature of your claim, the court your claim is being heard in, and the nature of the hearing.
For example, if you’re injured in a car accident in New Hampshire, your claim would be heard in the Superior Court in New Hampshire for your claim for damages arising out of the car accident.
In those cases, you might not go to a court hearing unless your case goes to a full trial. That said, there would be smaller hearings, per se, that would occur throughout the process, including things like structuring conferences, and pre‑trial conferences, and other hearings that would be scheduled by the court before the trial.
For the most part, those types of hearings or conferences are very different than the actual trial. What I mean by that is structuring conferences are used for things like scheduling deadlines in the case.
Those are typically not testimonial hearings, meaning that at these types of structuring conferences or pre‑trial conferences, usually witnesses are not testifying.
Whereas, at trial, mostly all of the evidence heard by the judge or the jury would be provided through witness testimony. In terms of who’s going to be there, the length, and questions asked, that’s all going to vary depending on the nature of the claim filed in court as well as the other factors that I mentioned.
That’s why it’s best to have an attorney to assist you in the process and answer these questions specific to your claim in court.
Ways an Attorney Can Help You Prepare
John: As you said, it makes people pretty nervous to think that they’re going to go to court and maybe be asked a lot of questions that they don’t know the answers to. If your clients do go to court, how are some of the ways that you help them to prepare?
Sarah: We make them aware, ahead of time, of “what are the issues in dispute in your case”? As you can imagine, the issues in dispute at the beginning of a case, whether it’s a family law case or a personal injury case, can be significantly narrowed down by the end of the case where you’re getting ready to go to a contested hearing or a trial.
We narrow down the issues for the client, so they know what the disputed issues are going to be. We also prepare them for — for example, if they’re going to be testifying, what that experience is like. Prepare them for what types of questions might be asked of them by their own attorneys, by other attorneys, by the judge.
Explain to them the process — who’s going to be there — and explain to them how the contested hearing or the trial is going to work. As I said before, preparation can help to limit and reduce anxiety.
If you know what to expect and you can try as best you can to reduce surprises, it can help the clients to get through the hearings and the trials in the best possible way.
John: Great. Thanks again, Sarah, for speaking with me today. I appreciate it.
Sarah: Thank you.
John: For more information, you can visit the firm’s website at burnsbryant.com or call (603) 742‑2332.
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