The clock is ticking . . . and while you have meticulously planned out every detail up until this point, everything will continue to become more and more chaotic up until the day of trial. Ask any successful paralegal what the two key elements of trial preparation are, and they'll tell you this: organization and flexibility. When put to the test, are your skills everything they should be? Let us help you take a closer look at the specialized realm of paralegal responsibilities leading up to trial right from the convenience of your desk. Your role is important, so take the next step toward maximizing your effectiveness. Make sure you can confidently fulfill your key trial responsibilities – order these vital reference materials today!

1. Useful Discovery for Trial
2. Creating a Trial Notebook
3. Preparing Your Witnesses
4. Effective Use of Evidence
5. Preparing Your Office - What to do Before You set Foot in Court
6. Succeeding at Trial

Continuing Education Credits:   

* denotes specialty credits

1. USEFUL DISCOVERY FOR TRIAL
   9:00 - 9:45, Denise Sabuda Murphy
   1. The Complaint
   2. Requests for Admission, Requests for Production and Interrogatories
   3. Bates Numbering
   4. Digesting, Abstracting and Indexing Depositions
2. CREATING A TRIAL NOTEBOOK
   9:45 - 10:45, Denise Sabuda Murphy
   1. Advantages and Disadvantages of a Litigation vs. Chronological Notebook
   2. Key Sections and Their Development
   3. Cross-Referencing
3. PREPARING YOUR WITNESSES
   11:00 - 12:00, Soo-Young Chang
   1. Creating Witness Lists
   2. Trial vs. Deposition Preparation
   3. How Preparation Varies Between Clients, Non-Expert Witnesses and Experts
4. EFFECTIVE USE OF EVIDENCE
   1:00 - 2:15, Soo-Young Chang
   1. Choosing Your Technological Direction
   2. Assisting Your Attorney With an Exhibit List
   3. Preparing Documents and Demonstratives
5. PREPARING YOUR OFFICE - WHAT TO DO BEFORE YOU SET FOOT IN COURT
   2:30 - 3:30, Lizbeth Bialis
1. Choosing ON-Site Location
2. Preparation of and Set-Up of On-Site Work-Room
3. Preparing for Court
4. Daily Recap and Preparing for What's Ahead
6. SUCCEEDING AT TRIAL
   3:30 - 4:30, Lizbeth Bialis
   1. What if You Don't Go to Trial?
   2. Court Rules and Practices You Need to Know About
   3. Differences Between Federal vs. Local or County Court
   4. Assisting With Jury Selection
   5. Tips for Working in the Courtroom
      1. Anticipating the Needs of Your Attorney
      2. Working With Opposing Counsel, Court Staff and the Judge
   6. Surviving the Trial

LIZBETH BIALIS is a litigation paralegal with Hodgson Russ LLP, where she specializes in litigation. She conducts legal and factual research; prepares pleadings, memoranda and briefs; witness lists and exhibits; trial notebooks; and deposition schedules and summaries. Ms. Bialis also coordinates and manages document production; locates and interviews witnesses and experts; organizes pleadings and trial exhibits; assists lawyers at trial; and maintains general client contact. She earned her paralegal certificate at the National Academy for Paralegal Studies, St. John Fisher College. Ms. Bialis is a member of the Western New York Paralegal Association, former Director of Public Relations; NFPA primary representative, vice president of programming; and National Federation of Paralegal Association (NFPA), currently region V Director (Board of Directors).

SOO-YOUNG CHANG is a trial attorney with Goldberg Segalla LLP, where he practices in the areas of products liability and general litigation. Starting as a prosecutor in Brooklyn, he led a long-term investigation that dismantled large narcotics-dealing gangs in a major housing project, which was featured on the front page of the New York Times. Mr. Chang also has defended physicians, hospitals and the City of New York against medical malpractice cases. In 2006, he returned to Buffalo, and has defended personal injury suits involving motor vehicle, construction-site, school-site and municipal site accidents. Mr. Chang also has defended medical malpractice and insurance coverage suits. He has obtained numerous jury verdicts throughout Western and Central New York on cases involving multi-million dollar potential verdicts. Mr. Chang earned his B.A. degree from the University of Michigan and his J.D. degree from Brooklyn Law School. He was selected for inclusion in Business First's Who's Who in Law list. Mr. Chang is a member of the Asian American Bar Association of New York, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Bar Association of Erie County and the Minority Bar Association of Western New York.

DENISE SABUDA MURPHY is a paralegal with Goldberg Segalla LLP, where, with more than 20 years of legal experience, she specializes in the areas of real estate, railroad litigation and commercial litigation, including complex litigation, complicated high exposure cases and death cases. As a paralegal to the firm's e-discovery group, she provides support on e-discovery projects and acts as a resource to others within the firm to provide support for use of their legal electronic database program, including coordination with vendors, processing data, review and coding of data, training and support of data review tools, and formatting and producing electronically stored data from the firm's summation database. In addition, Ms. Murphy acts as the firm coordinator of commercial eviction matters. In support of this effort, she maintains a comprehensive database of all local rules and court contact information for all jurisdictions where evictions are filed. She earned her Associates degree from Erie Community College, Orchard Park, New York; her Paralegal Studies Certificate from Canisius College, Center for Professional Development; and her ESI Certificate, Litigation Technology Workshop, Kroll Ontrack, Legal Tech 2010, New York. Ms. Murphy is a member of the Association of Litigation Support Professionals, member of the Steering Committee of Buffalo Chapter; the Western New York Paralegal Association, board member 2008 - 2010 and newsletter editor 2007 - 2010; and the National Federation of Paralegal Associations. She handles all aspects of the case from initial client contact to trial preparation and participation.

Please refer to Continuing Education Credit FAQ for general information about seeking credit for your participation in one of our continuing education programs.

Additionally, our team of credit specialists are here to answer your specific credit-related questions weekdays 7am - 5pm Central:

Phone: 866-240-1890

Email: credit@nbi-sems.com