This free trial preparation checklist takes one case from the day the trial date is fixed to the first morning of the trial. It is for litigators, trial lawyers, paralegals and supervising partners in law firms and in-house legal teams. Enter the day the trial starts and every later task is dated back from it: the court’s deadlines, the case theory and the issues, the evidence and exhibits, fact and expert witnesses, pre-trial applications or motions, a settlement review with the client, the trial bundle, logistics and the client’s own preparation. The supervising lawyer’s sign-off at the final pre-trial review is the gate before the last steps to court. Court rules vary by court and by country, so the court’s rules and any directions or scheduling order always come first, and this template is not legal advice. Open the matter with the Legal Case Intake Process Checklist and close it with the Legal Matter Closing Checklist.
Trial preparation is the stretch of a case where most of the deadlines fall at once. The court has fixed a date, and every step before it has a date of its own: lists of witnesses and exhibits, pre-trial checklists or a pretrial order, applications or motions, the skeleton argument or trial brief and the trial bundle. Miss one and the evidence you need may not be heard.
This checklist runs that stretch for one case, counting every due date back from the day the trial starts. It is written to work in any court: it names the step and tells you to follow the court’s rules and any directions or scheduling order, with examples from England and Wales and from US federal courts. Court rules vary by court and by country, and this template is not legal advice. If litigation is only expected, preserving documents comes first: see the Legal Hold Checklist.
Starts: the day the trial date is fixed.
Covers: court deadlines, case theory, evidence, witnesses and experts, applications or motions, settlement, the trial bundle, logistics and the client.
Ends: the supervising lawyer’s sign-off and the first morning at court.
Covers: the request, the conflict check, triage, engagement terms, opening the file and the kickoff.
Use it: when a new matter arrives, long before any trial date. Legal Case Intake Process Checklist.
Covers: the final bill, client money, the closing letter, returning originals, conflicts records and retention.
Use it: once the judgment, settlement or appeal period is over. Legal Matter Closing Checklist.
Nine phases take one case from the day the trial date is fixed to the first morning at court. Every due date after the first task counts back in business days from the day the trial starts. A jury, an arbitration, experts, a witness summons or subpoena, an interpreter, an electronic bundle, a settlement still in play and a client giving evidence each add their own tasks. The supervising lawyer’s sign-off at the final pre-trial review is the gate before the last steps to court.
Start the run as soon as the trial date is fixed. Enter the day the trial starts on the first task: every later due date counts back from it in business days, starting about twelve weeks out. The answers on the first task add the tasks this case needs.
Decide what the case is about before you choose the evidence. The case theory and the list of issues guide every later choice: which documents go in, which witnesses are called and what each one must prove.
Confirm early that every witness will be there and is ready. A witness who needs a summons or subpoena, an expert or an interpreter adds the tasks for them.
Make every filing and application in time. A pre-trial application or motion decided weeks before trial can change what evidence is heard.
Review settlement with the client one last time before the heaviest trial costs are spent, and prepare the client for the trial. If settlement is still possible, or the client is giving evidence, the tasks for that are added.
Agree the contents with the other parties, then build the bundle in the order and format the court requires. An electronic bundle adds a task to prepare and test it.
Plan how people, documents and equipment get to court. A trial with video links, evidence display or an electronic bundle adds a task to book and test the technology.
The supervising lawyer reviews the whole case with the team and signs off that it is ready for trial. The sign-off is the gate: the last steps before court cannot be completed until it is done.
The last checks before the trial starts and the first morning at court.
Your court’s rules and its directions, scheduling order or pretrial order set your deadlines, and the judge can change the defaults. These examples show how two systems handle the same steps: the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) in England and Wales and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) in US federal courts. State courts, criminal courts, tribunals and arbitrations have their own rules.
| Step | England and Wales (CPR, example) | US federal courts (FRCP, example) |
|---|---|---|
| Moving the trial date | A party must apply to the court to vary the trial date, a pre-trial review or the pre-trial check list date (rule 28.3 on the fast and intermediate tracks, rule 29.5 on the multi-track) | The pretrial order controls the case unless the court modifies it (Rule 16(d)) |
| Pre-trial check list or pretrial order | Returned by the date the court sets: on the fast and intermediate tracks not more than 8 weeks before trial (rule 28.4); on the multi-track by the date in the directions (rule 29.6) | Form and content settled at the pretrial conference (Rule 16(c)) |
| Witness and exhibit lists | As the court’s directions set | Pretrial disclosures at least 30 days before trial unless the court orders otherwise; objections within 14 days (Rule 26(a)(3)) |
| Making a witness attend | A witness summons is binding if served at least 7 days before the witness must attend, with expenses and compensation for loss of time offered (rules 34.5 and 34.7) | A subpoena served by a non-party aged 18 or over, with one day’s attendance fee and mileage tendered (Rule 45(b)(1)) |
| Pre-trial review | The court may hold one on the multi-track and gives at least 7 days’ notice (rule 29.7) | A final pretrial conference as close to trial as is reasonable, attended by a lawyer who will conduct the trial (Rule 16(e)) |
| Trial bundle | Filed by the claimant not more than 7 and not less than 3 days before trial (rule 39.5) | As the pretrial order and the court’s local rules require |
| Settling after the date is fixed | Tell the trial court’s listing officer immediately (rule 39.10) | As the judge’s orders and the local rules require |
Practice Direction 32 in England and Wales gives a useful default list. Your court may ask for more, less or a different order.
| Section | What it contains | Checks |
|---|---|---|
| Statements of case and orders | The claim form and all statements of case, and any order giving directions for the trial | The latest amended versions; every order the trial judge needs |
| Case summary and chronology | Where appropriate, agreed with the other side if possible | Neutral wording; dates match the documents |
| Witness evidence | All witness statements relied on, witness summaries and hearsay notices | Signed, final versions in the order the witnesses will be called |
| Expert evidence | Experts’ reports and the responses to them; they may go in a separate bundle | Joint statements and answers to questions included |
| Documents | Contemporaneous documents relied on, as one set in date order unless the court directs otherwise | Legible copies, with a typed copy beside anything hard to read |
| Format | Paginated continuously, indexed, numbered dividers over 100 pages, a core bundle where there are many | Identical bundles for every party and for the witnesses |
Sources, read 23 October 2026. CPR Part 28, Part 29, Part 34 and Part 39, and Practice Direction 32 (paragraphs 27.1 to 27.15); FRCP Rule 16, Rule 26 and Rule 45. These are examples to show what to look for, not a summary of the law where you practise.
Enter the day the trial starts and every later task gets a due date counted back from it in business days, from about twelve weeks out to the first morning at court. Overdue alerts go to the people assigned, and the Reports Grid lists every case being prepared with its answers, so a supervising partner can see them all at once.
A jury, an arbitration, expert witnesses, a witness summons or subpoena, an interpreter, an electronic bundle, a settlement still in play and a client giving evidence each add their own tasks, assigned to the case handler, the advocate, trial support or the supervising lawyer. A case without them stays short.
The supervising lawyer’s sign-off is a gate: the last steps before court cannot be ticked off until the case is confirmed ready. The deadline list, the offers made, the skeleton argument and the bundle index are kept on the tasks they belong to, and the activity log shows who did what and when. See how approval steps work.
CheckFlow does not file documents with the court, work out court deadlines from the rules or build the bundle; your case management system, the court’s filing service and your bundling tool do that. CheckFlow runs the process around them: who does each step by when, what was filed and served, and who confirmed the case is ready. See how checklists run.
Open the matter with the Legal Case Intake Process Checklist and preserve documents early with the Legal Hold Checklist. When the case ends, close it with the Legal Matter Closing Checklist. For an employment dispute, the Workplace Investigation Checklist covers the investigation that often comes before it.
Legal Case Intake Process Checklist
Legal Matter Closing Checklist
Workplace Investigation Checklist
Legal Department Compliance Audit Checklist
Legal Hold Checklist
Describe the process in a sentence and the AI checklist generator drafts the phases and tasks for you.
Every deadline the court has set before trial, the case theory and the issues, the evidence and exhibits with any authenticity and admissibility points, the witnesses and experts, pre-trial applications or motions, a settlement review with the client, the trial bundle, logistics, the client’s own preparation and a final review before the trial starts. This template covers each of those and adds tasks for juries, arbitrations, experts, summonses or subpoenas, interpreters and electronic bundles when a case needs them.
As soon as the trial date is fixed. Court deadlines such as pre-trial checklists, pretrial disclosures and applications fall weeks before the trial, and some witnesses need weeks of notice. This template starts about twelve weeks out and counts every later due date back from the day the trial starts. If your trial is sooner, start anyway: the earliest tasks will show as overdue, which tells you what to do first.
It is the indexed, paginated set of documents the judge and witnesses use at trial: statements of case, orders, witness statements, expert reports and the documents relied on. In England and Wales, unless the court orders otherwise, the claimant files it not more than 7 days and not less than 3 days before the trial starts (CPR 39.5), and Practice Direction 32 sets out its contents and format. Other courts set their own rules.
Under FRCP Rule 26(a)(3), each party must give the others the witnesses it expects to present or may call, the testimony it will present by deposition, and the documents and exhibits it expects or may offer. Unless the court orders otherwise, they are due at least 30 days before trial, and objections must be served within 14 days after, or most are waived. State courts have their own rules.
Confirm every witness’s availability in writing as soon as the date is fixed. A witness who will not come voluntarily needs a witness summons or subpoena. In England and Wales a summons is binding if served at least 7 days before the witness must attend, with travel expenses and compensation for loss of time offered (CPR 34.5 and 34.7). In US federal courts the fee for one day’s attendance and mileage must be tendered when a subpoena is served (FRCP 45(b)(1)).
The court checks the case is ready and settles how the trial will run: the timetable, the evidence, admissibility questions and the bundle. In US federal courts a final pretrial conference is held as close to trial as is reasonable, attended by a lawyer who will conduct the trial, and the order after it can be changed only to prevent manifest injustice (FRCP 16(e)). In England and Wales the court may hold a pre-trial review on the multi-track (CPR 29.7).
Record the terms in writing, get them signed and tell the court at once. In England and Wales the rules require the trial court’s listing officer to be told immediately when a claim settles after the trial date is fixed (CPR 39.10). In this template, answering that settlement is still possible adds tasks to advise the client, confirm their authority, deal with any last offer and tell the court; mark the remaining trial tasks not applicable once it settles.
No. It is a working checklist for organising trial preparation. Court rules vary by court and by country, and the court’s rules and any directions, scheduling order or pretrial order decide your deadlines. The rule references on this page are examples read from primary sources, not a statement of the law where you practise.
14-day free trial, no card required. The Business plan is $10 per user per month after the trial. Full details at checkflow.io/pricing.
14-day free trial, no credit cardFull refund in your first 30 daysUS hosting, EU on request
