Whether you are the defendant or the plaintiff, there are a number of things that you can do to help you get through the trial process. While your auto accident attorney or personal injury lawyer will help guide you through the process, it can still be stressful—especially if this is your first trial. Here are some tips for surviving a trial.
Be Prepared
First and foremost, be prepared. If you have an auto accident attorney or a personal injury lawyer representing you, they should have any documents that you will need prepped and ready. Your job will simply be to dress professionally and arrive on time.
Have Support
If possible, bring a friend or family member along to help provide support. Although they won’t be able to talk to you while court is in session, they can help calm your nerves during recess and give you someone to talk to.
Eat Something
You may feel a little nauseous if you’re stressed out about the trial, but you need to eat something. For one, you don’t want to sit there with your stomach rumbling—it’ll be pretty distracting. Plus, eating something healthy before trial will give you a little bit of an energy boost and help keep you awake during the trial.
Get Enough Rest
While it’s much easier said than done, don’t stay up all night the night before a trial. The reality is that stressing out about the trial is not going to change anything, so you shouldn’t ruin your sleep over it. This will also prevent you from falling asleep during the trial.
Try to Stay Calm
Again, easier said than done; however, trying to focus on staying calm is probably going to be one of the most useful tips for getting through a trial. Trials are inherently stressful and often times the anxiety can get the better of us and make the trial process worse than it needs to be. Try practicing some breathing techniques to use whenever you start to feel overwhelmed.
One breathing technique that will help calm your nerves is the 4-7-8 breathing method. All you have to do is breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven seconds and then breathe out for eight seconds.
Relax During Breaks
During recess breaks, take the opportunity to walk around, stretch and eat a snack. The trial process is the same whether you live in Salt Lake City or The Big Apple, so all of these techniques can help you no matter where the trial is held. Often times, it’s long and stressful and while your personal injury lawyer will help guide you through the process, these techniques will make the experience much less stressful.
Sources:
https://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Court-Hearing
https://www.howtoseparate.ca/10-preparing-court/1015-managing-stress-trial