Originally published by 1p21.admin.
The days prior to a
temporary orders hearing or
trial can be extremely tense. For one thing, it’s likely that you’ve
never been inside of a courtroom before and your unfamiliarity will likely
cause you to feel apprehensive. Secondly, this is a family law case we’re
talking about here. Whether it is a divorce or a child custody case your
children, your finances and possibly both are at stake. That alone is
enough to put a few butterflies in your stomach. Whether or not you feel
good about going to court the fact remains is that if you are unlikely
to settle your case either for temporary or final orders the result will
be that you and the opposing party will have to attend a trial in order
to have your case decided by a judge.
One of the best pieces of advice that I was told as a young attorney was
to always make sure you have prepared your client to the best of your
ability prior to any courtroom appearance. Sometimes lawyers get so caught
up in their own responsibilities associated with representing you the
client that we can forget that you are more apprehensive than anyone else.
Taking a step back and helping you is what an attorney does. It’s
the oath that we swore to when we were licensed as attorneys- to put your
interests ahead of our own.
With that said, I would like to share with you some advice on testifying
in court and how it can be impactful- not only on the case itself but
on how your judge will view you. Your credibility as a witness is just
as important as the content of what you actually say while under oath.
It’s with that fact in mind that we begin our discussion with some
basics on courtroom testimony.
Above all else, always tell the truth
Always, always, always tell the truth when you are responding to a question
in court. I could stop the blog right here and you would have learned
the most important lesson of all when it comes to in court
testimony. From my experience clients have the idea that if they do not “perform”
well while on the witness stand that their case will surely be lost and
their lives will never recover. I’m here to tell you that is simply
not the case.
For one, your testimony in court is only a part of the evidence that the
judge will have to consider when rendering a decision. The opposing party,
any other witnesses as well as any documentary evidence entered into the
record will also be critically important. Keeping this in mind, there
is no need for you to feel like you need to provide certain answers in
order so that your case may benefit.
Judges listen to people talk all day long and are very good judges of whether
or not the words that you speak are truthful. Even if an answer you are
about to provide will hurt your case it does not pay to be untruthful.
If the judge sees that you are providing answers even under tough circumstances
he or she is likely to take seriously your responses and your case as
a whole. Stretching the truth is something that you should stay away from
as well. Just because an answer sounds good coming off your lips doesn’t
mean that you should give that response.
Understand the question fully before giving an answer
Prior to a hearing I will always take my client aside and talk to him or
her about testifying. After I go over the importance of telling the truth
I will tell the client to make 100% sure that you understand the question
that is being asked of you before opening your mouth to speak. Take a
moment to let the question sink in and consider whether or not you understand
the question being asked. If you do, consider whether or not you know
the answer to that question. If you do then provide as succinct and clear
a response as you can muster.
If you do not understand a question, whether it is asked by your attorney
or the opposing attorney, you should ask him or her to rephrase the question.
Lawyers are human beings and are not perfect (ask the spouse of any attorney
about that last part). We ask bad questions all the time. Ones that sound
good in our heads but come off our lips making little to no sense. If
you are on the witness stand testifying and a lawyer’s question
doesn’t make sense ask for a rephrasing of the question. We will
take no offense to being asked to do so.
The last thing you want to do is to answer a question that you misunderstood
where you provide information that can be potentially harmful to your
case. Some lawyers will ask questions in ways that could be interpreted
multiple ways just to see if you answer it. Rather than taking a moment
to make sure you understand the question, you run the risk of giving a
response that was not only unnecessary but damaging to your case. It is
always better to collect yourself before testifying and to ask for the
question to be asked again if you do not understand it.
Part Two of our series on Courtroom Testimony to be posted tomorrow
While you may never have to testify in front of a judge in your
family law case knowing how to do so is not only important in terms of strengthening
your case but also in providing you with peace of mind leading up to your
court date. Please stop by our blog tomorrow morning to read part two
of our series on in court testimony.
If you have any questions about what you read in today’s blog post
please do not hesitate to
contact the
Law Office of Bryan Fagan. One of our licensed family law attorneys would be honored to speak with
you regarding your case in a free of charge consultation.
Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.
from Texas Bar Today http://ift.tt/2BHijAO
via Abogado Aly Website
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