I recently attended an all day CLE which featured a Q&A/panel discussion of 5 excellent NC Superior Court trial judges discussing civil litigation in NC.  Below are my top 12 take-aways:

1.  Jury instructions (hyperlinked here) are a great (and free) resource; consider using them from the pleadings stage to closing arguments.

2.  Motions to compel discovery may be necessary.  Just make sure that you’ve narrowed the issues and consulted with the other side per the rules.

3.  Understand e-discovery.  Wake County amended its Local Rules on 11/13/2015 which provides a helpful framework for e-discovery.  On that note, know your local rules of the county that you are in.

4.  For hearings don’t hand up large notebooks.  All of the judges seem to be in agreement that you only need to hand up the portion of the deposition that you cite in the brief.  Some judges want the cases and some don’t.   If you include cases then highlight them/flag them.  One judge commented that rather than printing off all cases consider putting them on a flash-drive.

5.  They typically don’t like motions for summary judgment on the day of trial.

6.  Don’t spend a lot of time in your brief citing case law on what the standard is (e.g., standard for summary judgment).  They know it.

7.  Send the brief to the Court as far in advance as you can.  Keep briefs brief.

8.  They typically don’t need (or want) a Power-Point presentation for a motion but most, if not all of the judges, appreciate short and concise summaries.

9.  Ask the trial court administrators (TCAs) and/or judicial assistants what their preferences are and what a particular judge’s preference is, they aren’t uniform.

10.  Use technology at trial… if you know how.  One judge commented that one of the best uses of technology that he has recently seen came when both sides shared a technician to help with the exhibits at trial.

11.  Most, if not all, of the judges would likely allow the use of illustrative exhibits in opening statements if the exhibit has been stipulated to and the other side consents to it.

12. Consider trial briefs.  The judges don’t see them very often and think that they can be very valuable particularly if there is a Daubert motion.