How to Choose a Witness for Trial

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When you are going to trial and you don’t have physical evidence to prove your case, you can bring in people who witnessed your issue or dealt with it firsthand. Here are a few suggestions on how to choose a witness for trial.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step1

Select someone who has firsthand knowledge of the issue, not someone you discussed it with after the fact.

Step2

Select professional people, if possible, because they make ideal witnesses, i.e., doctors, lawyers, teachers and accountants. They provide documentation to support their testimony and they are highly respected by the Court.

Step3

Know that family and friends can be witnesses, as long as they were personally involved or dealt with the issue at hand.

Step4

Choose people that like you. A certain person may have firsthand knowledge of the issue, but if the opposing lawyer learns that you and the witness no longer have a good relationship, they will take advantage of that and direct their questions to them on the stand in such a way that the answers given will not support your case, but rather work against it.

Tips & Warnings

Make sure that when you choose your witnesses you notify the opposing party of them in advance of the trial. If the witnesses have CV’s or reports, make sure copies of these are provided to the other side in advance, as well. This allows them to examine any documents and prepare questions for them to ask your witnesses at the trial. Otherwise, the witness who could be your key to winning your case could be dismissed because the other party wasn't able to prepare properly.