What to expect the first time you go to trial as a witness or party

Why this catches people off guard

Most people who end up in a courtroom for the first time have never seen one outside of television. The gap between what they expect and what actually happens is where a lot of unnecessary stress comes from. A trial is slower, more procedural, and more repetitive than any courtroom drama suggests. Knowing that in advance changes how you experience it.

This applies whether you are a named party in a business dispute, a witness called to testify, or an executive whose company is being sued. The mechanics are the same even though the stakes differ.

The waiting is the hardest part

Trials do not move at the pace people expect. There is jury selection, which can take a full day or more. There are sidebar conferences where the judge and lawyers step away to argue about evidence, and the jury sits and waits. If you are scheduled to testify, you may sit outside the courtroom for hours because witnesses are often sequestered so they cannot hear other testimony before their own.

Bring something to do. Do not assume you will be called at the time you were told. Trials run on their own clock, driven by objections, sidebars, and how long the prior witness takes.

Before you ever sit down

If you are a witness, you will almost certainly go through preparation sessions with the attorneys who called you. This usually means going through your prior statements, any documents you signed or wrote, and the questions you are likely to face on cross-examination. The point of this is not to script your answers. It is to make sure you are not surprised by anything and that you understand what the other side will try to get you to say.

Read anything you are given ahead of time more than once. Depositions, emails, and reports you created months or years earlier will often come back up during trial, and inconsistencies between what you said then and what you say now are exactly what opposing counsel is looking for.

What testifying actually feels like

Direct examination, where your own side's lawyer asks the questions, is usually straightforward. The questions are open-ended and designed to let you explain things in your own words.

Cross-examination is different. Questions are often closed, meaning they can be answered yes or no, and the lawyer asking them is trying to control the pace and the narrative. The instinct to over-explain or argue back is common and usually counterproductive. Answer the question that was asked. If you do not understand it, say so and ask for it to be repeated. If you do not know the answer, say you do not know rather than guessing.

Jason Sheasby, a partner at Irell & Manella LLP who has taken numerous complex cases to trial, has spoken about how much of trial work is about making complicated material understandable to people who are hearing it for the first time. That principle applies to witnesses too. Jurors are following along in real time, often on unfamiliar subject matter, and clear, simple answers help everyone in the room, including you.

The physical experience

Courtrooms are formal in ways that are easy to underestimate. You will likely be asked to remove hats, silence phones, and stand when the judge enters. Cameras and recording devices are usually not allowed. Security screening at the courthouse door is standard, similar to an airport, so build in extra time.

Dress a notch more formal than you think you need to. Jurors form impressions quickly, and how a witness presents is part of what they weigh, even if it should not be.

What tends to surprise people most

• The jury is watching you even when you are not speaking, including while you walk to the stand.
• Objections interrupt testimony constantly, and each one can pause you mid-sentence for a judge's ruling.
• Trials rarely finish in a single day, and testimony can be broken up across sessions, sometimes with a weekend in between.
• Nerves fade with repetition. The first few minutes on the stand are the hardest part for almost everyone.

After you testify

Once you are excused, you may be released from further obligation to attend, or you may be asked to remain available in case you are recalled. Ask the attorney who prepared you which applies before you leave the courthouse. Do not discuss your testimony with other witnesses who have not yet testified, since this can create problems for the case regardless of your intentions.

Going in with realistic expectations about the pace, the formality, and the difference between direct and cross-examination removes most of the anxiety that catches first-time witnesses off guard.