A trial plan sets out the case theme, witness order with the purpose of each, exhibits to be introduced through each witness, anticipated objections, and team assignments. It is developed in the weeks before trial and revised daily during it.
It is attorney work product.
Alternative Names:
Trial Strategy Document, Trial Outline
Why it Matters?
The value of the plan is in what it forces: identifying which witness introduces which exhibit surfaces exhibits with no sponsoring witness, and mapping each element of each claim to specific evidence surfaces gaps while there is still time to address them. Plans built as narrative outlines rather than element-to-evidence maps miss those failures until they appear at trial.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What should a trial plan map?
What does that exercise reveal?
