Trial Notebook Tabs PDF

The Paralegal’s Role In Trial
Notebook Preparation And

Trial
SUSAN BOESTER
Trial Notebook Tabs
I. Client Contact
II. Plan
III. Investigation & Discovery
IV. Motions
V. Statutory Summary Suspension
VI. Trial De Novo
VII. Criminal Trial
VIII.Legal Research
IX. Correspondence
X. Appeal
Motion Binder
An exhibits list
An outline of the points the attorney intends to

make and exhibits to be introduced.
 The motion(s) to be argued
 Any memorandums of law to support a motion

A copy of cases cited within the motion
 Exhibits to be introduced with the motion
a. All exhibits will have attached to them the predicate

questions for its admission.
 Witness tab for each witness that will testify
during the motion hearing.
a. An outline of points the attorney intends to make

with this witness.
b. A list of exhibits to be introduced during the
witnesses testimony.
c. A list of questions the attorney intends to ask the
witness.
 The questions at this point are not what your firm’s
Trial Notebook should look like;
 but why is a Trial Notebook used;
 what should it contain; and
 what role the paralegal plays in the preparation of this Trial

Notebook.
Why is a Trial Notebook Used?
 To insure that the attorney effectively and seamlessly

presents his case.
 To insure that all points are presented and evidence

is properly admitted.
 To insure the attorney looks organized and efficient

in front of the Judge and Jury.
Criminal Trial Notebook Folders
 Charging Instrument
 Plea Negotiation
 Preliminary Hearing
 Jury
 Opening Statements/Closing Statements
 Exhibits
 Memorandums of Law
 Pleadings
 Motions
 Orders
 Stipulations
 Witnesses
 Transcripts
 Legal Research
 Paralegal Trial Folder
 Attorney’s Trial Notebook
Charging Instrument
 Behind this tab will be the charging Instrument.
 Examples would be:
 The client’s tickets

 Information
 Indictment
Plea Negotiation
 Behind this tab will be any correspondence and

communication between the Prosecuting Attorney
regarding proposed dispositions of the case.
Preliminary Hearing Notebook
 The preliminary hearing notebook will contain the

following:
 Statute for the crime charged

 Statutes for all lesser and included crimes
 The Charging Instrument(s)
 Police Report
 Witness Statements
 Exhibits
 Questions for all Witnesses
Preliminary Hearing
 This hearing takes place before the Criminal Trial. A

preliminary hearing is only held if the client is being
charged with a felony.
There are two questions that are addressed during
the preliminary hearing:
 Was the crime charged committed?

 Did the Defendant commit the crime?
This hearing does not determine guilt or innocence.

Jury
 This folder holds the following sub-tabs:

 Jurors
 Voir Dire Questions
 Jury instructions
 Instructions requested
 Instructions given
Voir Dire
 Jury selection or Voir Dire is a critical part of the

trial process.
 It is the process by which the defense attorney and

prosecuting attorney (through questioning) discover
any bias of the potential jurors.
Voir Dire Questions
 The attorney will decide on a list of questions to be

used during the Voir Dire process.
 A printed copy is placed in the client’s physical file

behind the Voir Dire tab in the Voir Dire Trial folder.
A Potential Juror Can Be Challenged In
Two Ways:
 Challenges for Cause:
 Peremptory challenge:
The Time For Voir Dire Is Limited
 For this reason many attorneys use weighted

questions to quickly gage the juror’s position on
issues important to the case.
 The paralegal involved with jury selection will take

notes during the Voir Dire questioning.
Weighted Questions
 Examples of weighted questions:
 Police officers should be believed over other witnesses?
 Police officers, because of their training have keener

senses than other people?
 Police officers, because of their training have less bias

than other people.
 The potential jurors would be asked to answer these
weighted questions as follows:
 Strongly agree = 6
 Moderately agree=5
 Slightly agree=4
 Slightly disagree=3
 Moderately disagree=2
 Strongly disagree=1
Example Of A Juror Card
Juror # ___27_____
Sex M/F approximate age ___30+_____
Weighted questions: 1___ 2____ 3___ 4___ 5___ 6___
7___ 8___ 9___10 ___ 11 ____ 12____ 13 ___ 14 ___
Career field ________Children ____ Ed. Level ______
Marital status S/M/D Race ______
Other notes: (note worthy comments made by the potential
juror:
 A friend of his family killed in an accident that involved D
Driver.
 I think the laws are not harsh enough.
Information The Paralegal Will Note
About The Jurors
 The potential juror’s number

 The sex of the potential juror
 The age of the potential juror
 The employment of the potential juror
 Family information of the potential juror
 The education level of the potential juror
 Race of the potential juror
 Marital status of the potential juror, and
 The answers the potential juror gives to the weighted
questions
 Also record statements made by a juror that
indicates a potential bias.
 After the Voir Dire is complete, the paralegal will
tally the numeric value of each potential juror’s
answers.
 This, coupled with the other information the
paralegal has noted, will assist the attorney in
his/her decision on which jurors should be retained
or eliminated.
Opening Statements
 Opening statements are the first opportunity the

attorney has to present to the trier of facts, his theory
of the case.
 The attorney may have the paralegal type up his/her

opening statements, or an outline of the points the
attorney intends to address.
 A copy is filed in the client’s electronic file and a copy

is printed out and placed behind the opening
statements tab in the attorney’s trial notebook.
Exhibits
 This tab in the criminal trial folder contains: any and all
exhibits that will be used at the criminal trial to support
our case.
 All exhibits will have attached to them the predicate
questions for admission.
 This is a list of what is required to lay the proper

foundation for the exhibits admission into evidence.
Pleadings
Pleadings
Behind the Pleadings tab/folder you will find:
 Entry of Appearance (on right side of the folder)

 Procedural/Scheduling orders of the Court (on left side)
 Example:
 An order granting a continuance.
 Notice of Appeal
Motions
 Behind the motions tab are all substantive Motions
 Examples:
A MOTIONS TO SUPPRESS PBT RESULTS,

A MOTION TO SUPRESS HGN, and
A MOTION TO PRECLUDE TESTIMONY to name a
few.
 This binder will not contain ordinary motions such as a
motion to continue, these procedural motions will be
found in the pleadings folder.
Orders Folder
 Orders
Behind the Orders tab/folder you will find all substantive

Orders of the Court:
 Example:
 An order suppressing the EBT results.
 An order suppressing the HGN field sobriety test and
results.
Stipulations
 This folder contains a list of any and all stipulations

made by either party;
 Example:
 No calibrations logs for PBT or EBT.

 Stipulating that the NHTSA manual is the standard for
officer training in DUI detection and field sobriety
testing.
 Stipulating to the weather conditions.
Witnesses
 Experts Witness
(white or black three ring binder labeled with
Expert’s name)
 Each expert witness will have their own binder.
 Example of binder name: (Expert Witness Lowe)

Expert’s Binder Contains
 Witness Summary
 Experts Case Evaluation
 Reports – any official report sent by the expert.
 Affidavit
 Exhibits – any exhibits prepared by the expert for
use at trial.
 Experts CV – resume.
 Transcripts of previous testimony of the expert.
Witnesses
 Each witness will have their own soft binder.
 Example of binder name: (witness Smith)

Witness Binder’s
 Witness Summary Form.

 An outline of what the attorney needs to establish
through this witnesses testimony.
 A list of questions the attorney intends to ask the
witness.
 Audio Recordings of witness statement
 Affidavits
 Transcript of previous testimony of the witness
(highlighted and tabbed).
Transcripts
 A copy is placed in a three ring binder. It is

highlighted and tabbed by the attorney or paralegal.
 Original transcript to the attorney’s exhibits file.

Legal Research
 This tab/folder of the trial notebook contains sub-

tabs for all the information the attorney will need as
reference materials.
Law
 Cases—this sub-tab will contain supporting cases not

used in the memorandums or motions that support
any issue the attorney anticipates will be an issue at
the trial.
 Statutes—are self explanatory, what statues apply to
the issues in this case or arguments the attorney
intends to make at trial.
 Court Rules—which Court are we in and what are the
rules specific to that Court.
Studies
 A bound copy of any study the attorney intends to use at

the trial. Also put an unbound copy in this file for the
court.
 The bound copy used by the attorney is indexed, tabbed,

and highlighted.
Paralegal Trial Folder
 When the paralegal assist at a hearing or trial;
 He/she should always prepare a binder for his/her

use.
Items That Will Be In The Paralegals
Binder
 Witness questions tabbed by witness name
A Master Exhibit list
 An evidence list indicating the items the attorney

intends to admit into evidence after the proper
foundation is laid for its admission.
A blank exhibit form on which the paralegal will list

exhibits introduced by the Prosecuting Attorney.
Visual Exhibits
 If the visual exhibit is a document;
 Theparalegal must set the document up for display

prior to arriving in court.
Content Of The Paralegals Electronic Trial
Folder
 Segmented video
 Car in motion
 First contact
 Exiting the vehicle
 HGN instruction phase
 HGN test
 Walk and Turn instruction phase
 Walk and Turn test
 One Leg Stand Instruction phase
 One Leg Stand Test
 Any additional segments the expert witness may refer to.
 Visual exhibits
Attorney Trial Notebook
 Master exhibits list for all exhibits and all witnesses.
 A list of the predicate questions for the State’s

exhibits.
 A list of questions that will be asked of the state’s

expert(s) and witnesses.
 Master evidence list.

 Witnesses (a tab for each witness, in the order they
will be called to testify)
 An outline of the points the attorney intends to make
with the witness, and the exhibits that will be used
during the witness’s testimony. Set up in book form
on the left side prior to the questions.
 All questions to be asked the witnesses.
 To include Predicate questions regarding the
Exhibit(s) the witnesses will testify to.

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What is the purpose of a trial notebook?

What is the purpose of a trial notebook?

What are the main components that should be included in a trial notebook?

What are the main components that should be included in a trial notebook?

The Paralegal’s Role In Trial

Notebook Preparation And

An exhibits list

An outline of the points the attorney intends to

 The motion(s) to be argued

 Any memorandums of law to support a motion

 Exhibits to be introduced with the motion

a. All exhibits will have attached to them the predicate

a. An outline of points the attorney intends to make

 but why is a Trial Notebook used;

 what should it contain; and

 what role the paralegal plays in the preparation of this Trial

 To insure that the attorney effectively and seamlessly

 To insure that all points are presented and evidence

 To insure the attorney looks organized and efficient

 Behind this tab will be the charging Instrument.

 Examples would be:

 The client’s tickets

 Behind this tab will be any correspondence and

 The preliminary hearing notebook will contain the

 Statute for the crime charged

 This hearing takes place before the Criminal Trial. A

 Was the crime charged committed?

This hearing does not determine guilt or innocence.

 This folder holds the following sub-tabs:

 Jury selection or Voir Dire is a critical part of the

 It is the process by which the defense attorney and

 The attorney will decide on a list of questions to be

 A printed copy is placed in the client’s physical file

 Challenges for Cause:

 For this reason many attorneys use weighted

 The paralegal involved with jury selection will take

 Examples of weighted questions:

 Police officers should be believed over other witnesses?

 Police officers, because of their training have keener

 Police officers, because of their training have less bias

 The potential juror’s number

 Opening statements are the first opportunity the

 The attorney may have the paralegal type up his/her

 A copy is filed in the client’s electronic file and a copy

 This is a list of what is required to lay the proper

Behind the Pleadings tab/folder you will find:

 Entry of Appearance (on right side of the folder)

 Behind the motions tab are all substantive Motions

A MOTIONS TO SUPPRESS PBT RESULTS,

Behind the Orders tab/folder you will find all substantive

 This folder contains a list of any and all stipulations

 No calibrations logs for PBT or EBT.

 Each expert witness will have their own binder.

 Example of binder name: (Expert Witness Lowe)

 Each witness will have their own soft binder.

 Example of binder name: (witness Smith)

 Witness Summary Form.

 A copy is placed in a three ring binder. It is

 Original transcript to the attorney’s exhibits file.