Witnesses

● Default Standards, such as the court’s standard discovery orders and standard orders for access to source code during the discovery process.

Civil trial lawyers should familiarize themselves with all local and standing orders.

3. Federal Rules of Evidence

The Federal Rules of Evidence are a set of rules which govern the introduction of evidence at civil and criminal trials in United States federal trial courts. The current rules were initially passed by Congress in 1975, after several years of drafting by the Supreme Court. The Federal Rules of Evidence are broken down into 11 articles:

1. General Provisions

2. Judicial Notice

3. Presumptions in Civil Actions and Proceedings 4. Relevancy and Its Limits 5. Privileges 6. Witnesses

7. Opinions and Expert Testimony 8. Hearsay 9. Authentication and Identification

10.Contents of Writings, Recordings, and Photographs 11.Miscellaneous Rules

The Federal Rules of Evidence are more straightforward then the Rules of Civil Procedure. The most updated version of the Rules can be viewed in its entirety on www.rules of evidence.org. Lawyers should always consult the website to be sure that no recent changes have been overlooked.

4. State Rules

Each state has court rules governing the operation of its courts. In most instances, they are based on the Federal Rules. However, a lawyer must always read the state rules to be certain that they