Trial Preparation
Thirty days out, trial still feels like it lives somewhere on the horizon. The calendar says there is time, and the team has survived tighter deadlines before. Then a week disappears into a motion hearing, client calls, and a vendor email nobody answered. By the time anyone looks up, the exhibit list is still a draft and the deposition clips are still a spreadsheet of page numbers.
After more than 13 years supporting Michigan attorneys in the courtroom, John Schmitzer has watched that pattern play out in firms of every size. The teams that walk in calm on day one are rarely the ones with the biggest staff. They are the ones that treated the final month as a sequence of small, clearly owned tasks.
The exhibit list is often the most edited document in the case file. It has been revised through depositions, motions, and stipulations, sometimes by several different people. Week four is the time to sit down and match every entry to an actual file. If an exhibit is listed but cannot be found, you want to learn that now, not during opening statements.
Clean file names are one of the least glamorous parts of exhibit preparation and one of the most useful. When the judge admits Plaintiff's Exhibit 47, someone needs to find it in seconds. A few simple rules make that possible:
Some exhibits work fine as they are. Others need help before a jury can follow them, like a dense medical chart, a contract with one critical clause, or a photo that needs a zoomed detail. Flag those now so demonstratives and callouts can be built at a steady pace. Redactions deserve the same early attention, since a missed name or account number is hard to undo once it is on the screen.
Deposition clip preparation depends on decisions that are not always final three weeks out. Objections may still be pending, and opposing counsel may still be adjusting counter-designations. Build clips from the current designations and keep a clear version history so every change is easy to track.
Synced video only helps if the words on screen match the words the witness said. Before any clip is considered final, someone should check that:
Impeachment clips are built for a moment that may never come, when a witness on the stand contradicts their deposition. If that moment does arrive, the attorney has only seconds to act. The clip needs to be ready, indexed by page and line, and playable without any searching.
Courtrooms across Southeast Michigan are not interchangeable and federal courtrooms in the Eastern District of Michigan follow their own procedures. The safest approach is to call the clerk or court staff and ask directly.
Useful questions for that call include:
Remote testimony is now a regular part of many Michigan trials, especially for experts and out-of-state witnesses. It works well when it is planned like live testimony, with the same attention to timing and exhibits. It struggles when the first real test happens in front of the jury.
Before that runway closes, confirm these details for every remote witness:
A rehearsal should use the real files, in the order they will be used, at courtroom pace. Clicking through exhibits at a desk is not the same thing. The goal is to find the awkward pause, the clip that loads slowly, or the callout too small to read. Those are small fixes in the office and big distractions in court.
Our Mobile Office approach grew from a simple belief. If something can fail in a courtroom, eventually it will, so plan for it before it happens. In the final week, redundancy should cover:
The night before trial is not the time to build anything new. It is the time to confirm that everyone has what they need and knows where it lives. Walk through day one's witness order, the exhibits likely to be used, and the clips queued for playback.
Quick Takeaway: Treat the first morning's setup as its own task on the schedule. Arrive early enough to test every connection before the judge takes the bench.
Ideally, a trial technician joins three to four weeks before trial. That timing lets them help with exhibit organization and clip syncing, not just run equipment. For complex or multi-week cases, earlier is even better.
It happens often, so plan for it. Prepare clips and exhibits so contested portions are easy to remove, and keep an alternate version ready. A well-organized file system turns a late ruling on Motions in Limine into a quick edit.
Yes. Rulings, stipulations, and strategy shifts can all change clips, sometimes in the middle of trial. Organized source video and synced transcripts make those changes manageable, even overnight.
At minimum, keep three copies: the primary presentation system, a separate backup drive, and a second device ready to run. Store at least one copy outside the courtroom bag, in case that bag gets left behind.
Picture the first morning of trial going quietly. The equipment is tested, the exhibits are in order, and the first witness's clips are queued before anyone asks. The attorney is thinking about the opening statement, not a missing file. That kind of morning is rarely luck.
It comes from steady, unglamorous work spread across four weeks and shared across a whole team. Jurors notice when a presentation feels smooth and credible, even if they never know why. When the logistics are handled, the case itself gets the attention it deserves.
If trial is on your calendar for next month, Schmitzer Video & Trial Services can step in wherever your team needs support. That might mean organizing exhibits, syncing deposition clips, coordinating remote witnesses, or running courtroom presentation from the first witness through closing. A short conversation now can make the final weeks feel far more manageable.
Let us handle the courtroom technology, so you can focus on the case. Reach out and we will help you prepare.
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Trial Preparation
Courtrooms across Southeast Michigan can differ significantly in technology, layouts, access procedures, judge preferences, and remote testimony capabilities. Scouting the room and preparing redundant equipment can help litigation teams avoid technical disruptions and keep trial presentations running smoothly.
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Trial Preparation
Trial preparation becomes more manageable when litigation teams organize exhibits, deposition clips, courtroom technology, witness logistics, and backups throughout the final month. A structured four-week timeline can reduce last-minute problems and help attorneys stay focused on presenting the case.
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Courtroom AV
Courtroom technology problems often involve display failures, poor audio, or a single equipment failure that can interrupt testimony and distract jurors. Testing the actual courtroom early and preparing redundant systems helps trial teams keep exhibits, video, and testimony running smoothly.
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