This course provides a broad picture of how a case proceeds through the courts, from trial court to appellate courts to the Supreme Court. The course reviews:

• how local rules, state rules, and federal rules work together
• what goes on in a courtroom, from the paralegal's point of view and from the viewpoint of the courts, judges, lawyers, and juries
• the technology hardware and software used in producing a trial
• legal thinking, research, and writing, using formats and styles from across the country

The Trial Practice APC course relies heavily on student participation through case studies, writing exercises, and research on the internet. Upon completion of the course, paralegals will have completed exercises involving:

• Document Management – Drafting indexes, document filing options
• Scheduling
• Deposition summaries – types and working with summaries
• Electronic trial presentation
• Calendaring software
• Preparing motions, jury instructions
• Preparing trial notebook
• Drafting motions, bill of costs
• Judgments
• Calculating appeal dates
• Briefs – identifying required information
• Planning research
• Locating pending rule changes

Reading exercises include review and analysis of current articles on:

• Electronic trial preparation
• Juries and jury behavior
• Trial timelines
• Ethical guidelines
• Comparison of state rules and federal rules
• Working with case through appeal
• Brief writing

1.	Module 1 Methods of Document Management Law office practices in handling and organizing documents used in civil cases; online case management; electronic filing; documents needed to prepare for trial; discussion of the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
2.	Module 2 Witness Preparation Pretrial practices; trial schedules; creating summaries of depositions; trial subpoenas; preparing witnesses, both expert and non-expert; and the Daubert standard.
3.	Module 3 Electronic Presentations Preparing electronic presentations; assessing needs and styles; choosing a format; PowerPoint tips; video; integrating programs
4.	Module 4 Scheduling Orders, Motions, Voir Dire methods to keep all on track: scheduling orders and calendaring; and pretrial motions; motions in limine; jury instructions; and the jury selection process.
5.	Module 5 Trial Notebooks Creating a trial notebook, including what to include and different organization schemes
6.	Module 6 Trial Procedure Duties of paralegals during trial; transcripts; ethical considerations; working with witnesses; motions during trial; types of trials; daily recap and prep meetings
7.	Module 7 Verdicts and Judgments Enforcing judgments, judgment creditors and judgment debtors, bill of costs, taxation of costs.
8.	Module 8 Appeals Federal and state appellate processes; U.S. Supreme Court; appeals; oral arguments
9.	Module 9 Writing Briefs Legal writing, citation systems, memoranda and briefs, IRAC
10.	Module 10 Upcoming Issues A look ahead to changes in the law, legal business, and technology that may affect paralegals working in trial practice; information sources

Prerequisite Knowledge

This course is written based on the assumption that paralegals taking and seeking to complete the Advanced Paralegal Certification course on Trial Practice have a general understanding of the following: General Litigation Knowledge: Federal Rules Litigation/trial terminology Research Discovery (There is an APC course which focuses solely on  Discovery): Discovery tools Investigation eDiscovery Depositions and witnesses Evidence: Types of evidence Admissibility Exclusion of evidence Hearsay Best evidence