Any professional attorney loves their experience in the courtroom. They thrive on the repeated thrills of getting into nice suits and lugging their expensive briefcases through the security check and into the well organized courtroom. However, the whole thing could become a nerve-wracking experience for new attorneys. There are things that they should do to survive their first court appearance. In general, attorneys should appear on the timely manner. If the court session begins at 9:00AM, they should already be seated at 8:45AM with everything fully prepared. Childcare and other matters should be arranged weeks in advance. They should have adequate nourishment, rest and reliable transportation.
Successful attorneys dress for success and they are able to respect their own presence in the court of law. Paperwork should be prepared in an organized manner. Because not everyone has perfect memory, it is important for them to reminders. Supporting documents should be brought and organized chronologically, depending on their needs. If they have time, new attorneys should prepare an Excel spreadsheet that can be printed to help them to organize well. There should be copies of important documents, especially when the judge and witnesses need to read them. Attorneys should also know about the purpose of each hearing session. Each hearing is the next step to the closure of the case, so attorney should make sure that each is count.
In any court session, it is important for attorneys to speak clearly and look directly at each person, especially the judge. The client considers attorney as their best available representative and if attorneys fail to represent client well, this could lead to disappointments and poor results. Especially in a complicated case, attorneys should be able to summarize properly. In the courtroom, many people have limited time slots and when new attorneys seem to slow, it would be quite embarrassing and unprofessional if the judge reminds them of that. It is important for new attorneys to improve their oratory skills to impress everyone whenever possible.
In a complicated case, it is possible that some plans and strategies don’t work quite well. So, it is important for new attorneys to prepare alternative solutions and things they should do when the opposing side performs their counter-strategies. In civil cases, attorneys often need to encourage clients to make compromise to achieve desirable results for both sides. As an example, a recently divorced mother with full custody may require $5000 per month in child care from her ex-husband. Compromises may need to be made before the case can be concluded.