When Should You Hire a Trial Tech?
There isn't one point in a case when every legal team needs to hire a trial tech. Some matters benefit from trial technology support weeks before anyone enters the courtroom, while others may only need help closer to trial. The right timing depends on the amount of material involved, how the case will be presented, what needs to be prepared beforehand, and how much of that work the legal team is already handling internally.
What does tend to make things difficult is waiting until the last minute to start thinking about it. A trial tech can certainly walk into an existing case and get up to speed quickly, but the closer you get to trial, the fewer opportunities there are to identify problems before those problems become urgent.
Start With What You Plan to Present
One of the easiest ways to decide when to involve a trial tech is to look at what you expect to use in court. A case with a relatively small exhibit set and limited electronic presentation may require less preparation than a matter involving hundreds or thousands of exhibits, deposition video, demonstratives, multiple witnesses, and extensive presentation materials.
The condition of those materials matters too. If exhibits are already organized, consistently named, and ready for presentation, the transition into trial can be fairly straightforward. If documents are still coming from multiple sources, exhibit numbers are changing, deposition clips haven't been prepared, or nobody is quite sure which version of a demonstrative is current, there is more work to do before anyone gets to the hot seat.
That doesn't necessarily mean you need a trial tech months in advance. It does mean the amount of preparation should be part of the conversation when deciding when to bring one in.
Earlier Involvement Can Catch Problems Before Trial
There is an advantage to giving your trial tech enough time to become familiar with the case materials and how the team intends to use them. It creates an opportunity to identify missing exhibits, inconsistent file names, video problems, presentation issues, or equipment needs while there is still time to address them.
It also gives everyone a chance to establish how the team will work together. Attorneys have different preferences in the courtroom. Some follow detailed witness outlines closely. Others work much more fluidly and change direction based on testimony. Some want the trial tech anticipating the next exhibit, while others prefer to call everything explicitly.
Those preferences are much easier to learn before a witness is sitting on the stand.
Consider What Needs to Happen Before the First Day of Trial
Hiring a trial tech isn't always about the days spent sitting in court. Depending on the matter, there may be a significant amount of trial preparation involved before opening statements ever begin.
Electronic exhibits may need to be organized and tested. Deposition designations may need to be edited into clips. Presentation decks or demonstratives may need work. Equipment may need to be sourced, configured, and tested in the courtroom. The team may also want assistance during pretrial hearings, jury selection, or other proceedings leading into trial.
If you expect your trial tech to handle any of that work, bringing them into the conversation earlier gives everyone a more realistic understanding of what needs to be completed and how much time it will take.
A Smaller Case Can Still Benefit From a Trial Tech
The size of the law firm or trial team isn't necessarily a good measure of whether trial technology support makes sense. A smaller case can still involve complicated evidence, deposition testimony, medical records, photographs, timelines, or other materials that need to be presented efficiently.
The better question is who will manage those materials while the attorney is trying the case.
Sometimes a legal team already has someone who is comfortable handling the technology and has enough capacity to do it. In other situations, asking a paralegal, associate, or another member of the trial team to operate the presentation means taking that person away from the work they were originally there to perform.
A dedicated trial tech gives the presentation side of the case someone's full attention while the rest of the team stays focused on their own responsibilities.
Last-Minute Trial Tech Support Is Possible, but It Changes the Work
Trials get continued, cases settle, schedules move, and staffing needs change. Sometimes a team doesn't know it needs trial technology support until very close to the trial date. That happens, and an experienced trial tech should be accustomed to getting up to speed quickly.
The tradeoff is preparation time. If someone is brought in a few days before trial, those days may need to include learning the exhibit structure, reviewing witness materials, preparing deposition clips, understanding the courtroom setup, organizing presentation files, and figuring out how the attorneys prefer to work. Work that could have been spread over several weeks may suddenly need to happen in a much shorter window.
It can be done, but the scope of the case and the condition of the materials become especially important when time is limited.
Availability Is Part of the Timing Question
There is also a practical reason to start the conversation early: trial technicians can only be in one courtroom at a time.
Trials are unpredictable, and calendars don't always behave. A matter scheduled for one week may be continued to another. A trial expected to last five days may take two weeks. Another case may settle days before jury selection and suddenly open a calendar that had been unavailable for months.
If you know you want a particular trial tech or litigation support team, reaching out early gives you the best opportunity to discuss availability, expected trial dates, potential continuances, and what support you may need. You don't necessarily need every detail figured out before making that call.
So, When Should You Make the Call?
Once you know a case is likely to require trial technology support, it is reasonable to start the conversation. You can always refine the scope as the trial gets closer and the team's needs become clearer.
For a case involving substantial exhibits, deposition video, demonstratives, equipment, or significant pretrial preparation, earlier involvement generally gives the team more room to organize and test everything before trial. For a smaller matter with presentation-ready materials, the preparation period may be considerably shorter.
The goal isn't to bring someone onto a case earlier than necessary. It's to leave enough time for the work the case actually requires.
A good starting conversation doesn't need to be complicated. Trial dates, location, expected length, approximate exhibit volume, deposition video needs, courtroom technology, and the type of presentation support you're anticipating can tell a trial tech quite a bit. From there, you can determine what needs to happen before trial and when it makes sense to get started.
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