June 19, 2024 – Young lawyers often have blind spots for things they didn’t learn in law school, like trial prep, says Atty. Kristin Slonski.
“One of the things we don’t know at the beginning of practicing law is how difficult it can be to take a client’s story and present it in a way that’s both easily digestible to the trier-of-fact and admissible under the rules of evidence,” Slonski said.
“When it comes down to taking that story apart and putting it back together for someone who’s not steeped in it, it can be a lot more time consuming and expensive than young practitioners realize.”
Slonski, Director of Advocacy and Legal Services at Judicare Legal Aid, spoke the State Bar of Wisconsin at the Young Lawyers Conference in March.
Among her trial prep tips are:
“They should always be somewhere in the back of your mind when you’re speaking with a client or a witness or looking at a document,” Slonski said about the rules of civil procedure and evidence.
Slonski said she writes down everything she plans to do in court.
“I script it out like it’s going to be on HBO,” Slonski said. “I write out the questions I’m going to ask and the answers I think I’m going to get.”
“The act of writing it out has calmed me, it’s focused me, and having it in front of me is like having a security blanket.”
