Error Preservation Planning For Trial And Appellate Litigation: Begin With The End In Mind And Avoid "Gotchas"

Error Preservation Planning for Trial and Appellate Litigation: Begin with the End in Mind¹ and Avoid "Gotchas"²

Benjamin Franklin said, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!"³ Franklin's rule is especially applicable to litigation. That planning must begin with the "end" in mind.⁴ Of course, the "end" is success at both trial and on appeal. Achieving that "end" requires crafting strategies, immediately, at the very outset of the litigation that address all the foreseeable challenges. That takes time, but defaulting from solid, prompt planning and waiting until the "eleventh hour" to prepare can easily cause one to overlook critical, strategic decisions. Then, the "end" you seek can be lost.