5 Tips To Help You Win In The Court

Posted on Apr 6 2016 - 6:36pm by Editorial Staff

Court

If you have an upcoming court case, you may be nervous about the process, especially if you’ve never been through it before. The legal system is intentionally confusing and convoluted, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare yourself for success for your day in court. Of course, an attorney will always be helpful in cutting through legal red tape and dealing with paper work, but sometimes people choose to defend themselves.

Whether you’ve hired legal help or are attempting to plea your own case, here are some tips that will help you succeed. Believe it or not, it’s the simplest mistakes which cause so many people to lose their cases, be they in front of a judge or jury.

Keep Notes

The documents surrounding your case, anything from contracts to medical reports to receipts, should be kept in one place not only for your ease of access, but so they will be readily available come court day. You don’t want to be running around that morning looking for your X-rays or invoices because you didn’t bother to collect everything in a manila folder.

Additionally, take notes throughout your preparation of important facts, questions for witnesses, answers to specific questions etc. Any counsel you receive and any ideas you have for your case should be written down before you forget. Don’t lose your cool in court because you forgot to take notes!

Be Respectful

Speaking of losing your cool, don’t let emotions get the better of you when it comes to treating all parties in your case with respect. That includes your opponent, their legal aid, juries and judges. Being calm, collected, professional and polite will go a long way toward building a positive character profile in your favor.

Show up to every meeting, especially your case, on time and fully prepared. Wearing the proper attire is just as important as what you say, so never show up to court in jeans or a t-shirt.

Expert Witnesses

If you need help proving a point or expounding on a piece of evidence, expert witnesses can be used as a third-party member of your legal team; someone who is seen as objective by the judge or jury, but who is none-the-less used to make your points. Expert witnesses usually comprise of professionals or academics with masterful knowledge on a subject, such as a cardiologist being used to discuss matters of heart disease.

Your attorney will typically have a list of expert witness contacts that can help with your case, but there are other ways to find expert witnesses on your own. Rogers DVS expert witness program specializes in finding the right witness to make your case successful.

Prepare to Defend Yourself

Especially if you don’t have a lawyer it’s important that you consider all the ways your opponent might use circumstances and evidence against you. You must admit and be able to dismiss or defend against any facts that may be used against you. Try to be objective and think from your opponent’s point of view.

Your opponent’s lawyer will come up with anything they can to discredit you, your story and your evidence, so stay one step ahead with an answer to everything.

Determine Admissible Evidence

Relevance and reliability determine the worth and admissibility of evidence in court. That means for each piece of evidence you present, it must be highly relevant to proving or disproving a point of either party’s argument. It must also be of a reliable source, of credible origins that can be trusted not to have been altered or compromised.

Admissible evidence is determined on a case by case basis

See, it’s not so difficult to present your best case in court. A little preparation goes a long way, and the judge and jury will appreciate how seriously you take the situation. As always, legal advice can also go a long way to ensure your success, but if you can’t afford it or think you stand a better chance on your own; just know that it’s not impossible to win your case.

Photo by Activedia, CC0 1.0

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Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.