Exhibits aren’t just for museums! The U.S. district courts received nearly 500,000 filings in 2020. This number accounts for just a fraction of the cases that American courts received that year.
Each case led to dozens of papers being filed in court. In order to build a strong case, you need to know how to make exhibits for court. Yet you can’t just print out a bunch of papers and expect to win.
What rules do you need to follow for preparing exhibits for court cases? How can you make your court exhibits compelling to the jury? How can you learn how to label exhibits?
Answer these questions and you can make the perfect exhibits for your court case in no time. Here is your quick guide.
Follow the Court’s Rules
Each court has its own rules for court exhibits. In general, you need to present evidence that conforms to the rules of evidence.
All exhibits you will present must be seen by the opposing side before the hearing or trial. You can enter evidence into the court record by presenting the evidence to a witness and asking them questions about it. They must provide clear details about what the evidence is and if it is authentic.
When in doubt, talk to your judge about their standards for evidence. You can watch hearings in other cases with your judge and see what kind of evidence they appreciate.
Contemplate Objections
Objections are based on the rules of evidence, so they vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. An opposing attorney is not allowed to object to your evidence just because it hurts their case.
They can object if they feel the evidence is irrelevant. All of your exhibits need to have a direct impact on the case, and you must describe how the evidence matters.
An attorney can also object to the evidence if it violates the best evidence rule. You may offer a photocopy of a document, not the original document. But you must justify why you have a photocopy and not the original, and you must summarize the content of your exhibit clearly.
Hearsay evidence is evidence that comes from someone other than the witness presenting it. If your witness says they know about something that someone else told them, they are presenting hearsay evidence. This is never okay.
Prepare Copies of Each Exhibit
You should prepare at least three copies of each exhibit you use. One copy goes to the judge who enters it into evidence. You keep one copy, and you give the third copy to the opposing lawyer.
The only exceptions are physical pieces of evidence like weapons. You should still have photographs of the evidence and written descriptions of them, and you should make copies of these materials.
Keep the copies of your materials in a binder or folder. Develop an organizational system so you can keep track of your exhibits and pull them out when you need them.
Exhibit stickers for court are a good resource. You can buy stickers and exhibit tabs at legalsupply.com.
You can keep some exhibits on a laptop or personal electronic device. Make sure they are of high quality and accessible to both sides of the court case.
Keep Your Exhibits Simple
You may need to present exhibits to witnesses on the stand and jurors. Giving them a photograph with many objects in it can be confusing.
Photograph only one object at a time. If you want to call someone’s attention to something, attach an arrow to it.
Make sure your visual displays are big enough for the jury to see. You can use a pointer to point out important sections.
You cannot edit a deposition to make it clearer. But the witness can ask to edit their testimony up to 30 days after they testify. Encourage your witness to correct sentences that are hard to understand.
Label Your Exhibits
Many judges require lawyers to label their own exhibits. The judge may have a numbering system, so you should ask them what they want for numbers.
If they don’t have a system in mind, you should make your own. Most lawyers number their exhibits in order of when they will use them.
You can use whatever color of labels you want, as long as the judge approves of them. You can develop a color code to group related exhibits together. Yellow labels can go on testimony evidence while green labels can go on pieces of physical evidence.
Write a Cheat Sheet
Each lawyer on your team should have a cheat sheet with summaries of each piece of evidence. The sheet can also contain details on the issues that attorneys need to address, like objections to evidence.
Put the cheat sheet in your exhibit folder on the first page. You can follow the sheet with a master index that indicates where each exhibit is in the folder.
Figure Out How to Make Exhibits for Court Cases
Learning how to make exhibits for court cases is an essential skill for all lawyers. You must follow the rules of evidence specific to your jurisdiction and resolve all objections.
Whatever exhibits you plan on showing, you must make copies of each one. Keep your exhibits simple, especially if you are showing them to the jury.
Label your exhibits with stickers and compile them in folders or binders. Write a cheat sheet so you know what each exhibit offers.
Preparing for court is complicated. Knowing the facts can help. Read more court preparation guides by following our coverage.
