What to expect on your day of trial. First of all, your trial is going to be at the courthouse in the division assigned to your case. Before that date, my office will have given to you, or you've probably already been to the courthouse and to that courtroom, 'cause we've probably had previous proceedings where you've been there. The trial will take place in that courtroom.
In the courtroom setting, generally once trial starts, the only people who are going to be in the room are typically related to the case. Courtrooms are public places, so you may see lawyers coming in and out. You may see people walking in and out, but generally if we're having a trial, no one's gonna come in because no one related to the case needs to be there. In the courtroom, we're going to have a judge, a clerk, possibly a court reporter, even though a lot of the courtrooms that we are in use electronic recording. There's going to be a bailiff there. Those are the courtroom staff.
Those are the people who are going to be there. Also present are going to be all the lawyers on the case, all the parties on the case. Like I said, a courtroom's a public place, so you can invite friends or family, people who are supportive to you, people who you want to be there with you can come to the trial. Likewise, on the other side, people can come. You might see your former mother-in-law or your former father-in-law or your former brother-in-law.
They might be people that you feel uncomfortable around, you do not necessarily want to be testifying in front of, but prepare yourself because they're allowed to be there and they may be there. So you might, you might see people that make you uncomfortable or that you need to be— prepare yourself mentally you're going to speak in front of. If there are individuals who accompany you or accompany the other side who are going to testify in the case, they will be excluded from the courtroom until such time as they testify. So for example, if your sister comes with you, but we're also planning on calling your sister as a witness in the case, your sister will have to sit outside until her time to testify occurs.
Sometimes the court does exclude everyone from the courtroom except for the parties and the attorneys. It, it really depends on the judge. It really depends on the type of case. If there's someone in the courtroom that came with the other side, that's a person you feel very uncomfortable around, I can request exclusion of people in the courtroom. Some judges will allow me, some judges won't, but keep in mind that if we're excluding people, we're excluding people that you brought too. Sometimes people have friends or family who come and just wait in the hallway all day.
A trial can be very long. Generally, we're gonna be there at least one day, sometimes multiple days. It's good to have people with you, or one person with you who's there. I'm not always going to be available. There are generally attorney meetings in the judge's chambers, or attorneys' meetings where we're negotiating. You might be sitting out in the hallway, or you might be sitting in the courtroom for a long time. Might be nice to have someone there with you in case you're nervous or you just need extra support.