Mobile, if you’ve ever wondered what happens after the paperwork… after the depositions… after the experts… this episode pulls back the curtain. On the latest Law 251 with Tobias & Comer Law, the Mobile Mornings crew sat down at their offices with Desi Tobias, Bryan Comer, and Lacey Smith to walk through what happens when a case is trial-ready. And it’s not just dramatic courtroom speeches and surprise witnesses. It’s strategy. Preparation. Precision. Here’s what you’ll hear: ⚖️ What a motion in limine is and why certain evidence never makes it in front of a jury 📚 How the Rules of Evidence shape every single question asked 👩‍⚖️ How jury selection actually works and why experience matters 🎤 Opening statements, expert battles, and what it takes to meet the burden of proof 📝 Why clients sit at the table and sometimes pass notes during trial ⏳ The suspense of jury deliberations and the emotional roller coaster of a verdict 📄 What happens if the case goes to appeal It’s like getting a backstage pass to the courtroom before the curtain rises. If you caught Part One, this is the next chapter. If you missed both, now’s your chance to understand how preparation and experience can shape the outcome of a case long before a verdict is read.

Full Transcript:

Welcome back, Mobile Mornings here on FM Talk 1065, and time for another edition of Law 251 with Tobias and Comer Law, and just like the last episode of Law 251, we’re on the scene. (0:14) We’re at the offices of Tobias and Comer with Desi Tobias, Brian Comer, and Lacey Smith. So good to see all three of you again.

(0:22) So the last conversation we had in this room, we were talking and kind of trying to let listeners know what it’s like if you have an injury case, if you have a defective product case, car accident, (0:36) and you guys kind of led me through everything from the first phone call all the way to meeting here and having experts come out to the scene. (0:42) So what happens after you’ve gathered all that information and you and your client are ready to either go to trial, preliminary motions, I guess that would be what comes next if this is part two of that part one we just had last month. (0:56) And Lacey, if you can kind of walk us through what that stage of this process is.

(1:01) Sure. As we discussed the last time, we take great care and put a lot of effort in here at Tobias and Comer into building a case up for trial. (1:10) So that gives you a long history.

So much focus is put on trials, but really in the lifespan of the case, it’s at the very end of the road and a small portion of it. (1:21) But having worked up a case from start to finish, you get to know the issues and the facts and particularly some facts that maybe do or do not need to reach the jury. (1:31) So, you know, in the months leading up to trial, motion practice picks up.

There’s one kind of motion called a motion in limine, which is just a Latin phrase. (1:40) But essentially that is asking the court to either usually to keep out a piece of evidence. (1:45) So, for example, if you have an ordinary car wreck case and there’s an issue in your past, whether maybe you got arrested or something like that, (1:56) but it has nothing to do with the actual accident at hand, then a motion in limine can be filed asking the court to keep out that irrelevant piece of evidence.

(2:06) You know, we also talked about expert work last time while we’re here. And another kind of motion can be to attack or defend your experts. (2:14) So the plaintiff will be asking to keep out the defense experts and vice versa.

And that’s under the Daubert standard. (2:20) But basically that just attacks either the qualifications or how the expert really reaches opinions and just asking the judge to make a decision prior to trial. (2:31) So we kind of know the game plan going in.

(2:33) You’re kind of saying, OK, this is cool. This isn’t cool. This expert is an expert and should be allowed to testify or not.

(2:39) Is that basically what that portion of this process is? (2:42) Yeah, it just kind of helps shape up the evidence. And, you know, a lot of trial work is doing things on the fly and reacting to what’s happening in the moment. (2:50) But it’s helpful to both the judge and the lawyers to kind of have a roadmap going forward as to certain big picture items that will or will not come in to evidence.

(3:01) And I always tell folks that if you’re thinking of it like in the discovery phase where we talked about that, where we’re taking depositions or trying to get information, (3:08) there’s a completely different standard of what can come in. And it’s not a matter of, oh, this is a bad fact or that’s a bad fact or good fact or whatever. (3:16) It comes down to, is it admissible at trial? There’s a book of rules called the Rules of Evidence.

(3:21) And every piece of evidence, every question, every all the testimony all have to meet those rules. (3:27) And if they don’t, that’s where the motions come in that she’s talking about. (3:30) How long is that part of this whole process generally? I imagine there’s a pretty wide span of how long that could take to get through.

(3:37) Yeah, it depends on the case and how complex it is. We’ve submitted and written three page motions. (3:43) We’ve submitted and written 15 page motions, particularly on experts, because then you’re talking about their education and their experience and then, you know, deposition testimony and specific things like that.

(3:54) So it just varies case to case. (3:57) Kind of to springboard on that, you know, that’s one of the reasons that we always talk about, you know, you want to make sure that you’re hiring someone who knows what they’re doing, (4:04) because, you know, that’s part of the experience that we have is understanding what those issues are and then what the rules are that apply. (4:11) And so if, you know, there’s something that’s completely irrelevant to something, the issue in the case, you know, you want to make sure that that stays out.

(4:18) And folks who maybe don’t have as much trial experience or don’t have as much practical experience might not know those things or might not take those steps to keep out evidence that has, (4:27) again, has nothing to do with the claim or the case, but that the jury might, you know, really dislike. (4:33) Yeah, so much like, you know, sports, you see a freshman or a rookie out there, they’re going to come across things they’ve never seen before. (4:40) You get a more experienced quarterback and we just had the Super Bowl not that long ago.

(4:44) You could see how the game slows down for them. (4:47) And I imagine that’s a lot like it is for you guys who’ve just seen so many manner of different things over the years of your practice. (4:54) So after that, once everything is decided, is that when jury selection comes? Is that the next step in going to trial? (5:01) Yeah, that’s the next thing.

(5:03) So, you know, what happens and it varies by court, whether it’s in federal court or state court and even the state court system, judges do things differently. (5:10) But in essence, you get a panel of jurors and they come in and that’s where the judge and then the lawyers ask them questions. (5:17) And then they they give basic information about themselves, their families, their life experiences, (5:23) that both we as the plaintiff and then the other side as the defense lawyers then look to to say, OK, maybe this person is not the right person for the jury.

(5:30) And then you have what’s called jury selection, where the cuts are made and the plaintiff strike this juror, (5:36) the defense strike that juror until you’re left with 12 people plus an alternate or two who are going to be impaneled for the trial. (5:42) So once you tug of war and figure out who’s going to be on the jury and you work that out, what’s the next step? (5:48) So kind of big picture, the next thing is each side gets a time to give opening statements and that’s where they give their view of what the facts are. (5:56) And typically once we get to a trial, there is at least a question of fact that is in dispute.

(6:02) And so then that’s what the jury is there to do. (6:04) The judge is the judge of the law, the jury is the judge of the facts, and they’re there to figure out, you know, which version is right. (6:10) And so after the opening statements, then we as the plaintiff get to put on our case in chief.

(6:14) And what that means is we call witnesses, lay witnesses, fact witnesses, expert witnesses. (6:20) We put on evidence and we do the things that we do to meet the burdens of proof that we have. (6:25) OK, and we’ve talked about that before.

(6:27) But then once we’re done with our case, then we rest. (6:31) And then the defense has an opportunity to say that we didn’t meet our burden and to try to have the judge throw the case out. (6:37) And then if we survive that because we’ve put on our evidence, then the case ultimately goes to the defense.

(6:42) And then they can either put on witnesses just like we did or they can rest. (6:47) And once they rest, then there’s a few things left to do before giving closing arguments and then ultimately the jury deliberating. (6:54) How involved generally is a client of yours? Like, do they need to be there for the jury selection? (7:00) We certainly make an effort to put the client at ease because trial is not something that everyone does every day.

(7:08) Hopefully it’s a rare event in someone’s life. (7:09) So we certainly meet with them in the weeks leading up to it, help them prepare their testimony, just kind of like we did with the deposition. (7:17) Give them their deposition transcript to read over what was said, (7:20) because that kind of helps them understand where the defense might be coming from when they’re on the stand.

(7:25) And yes, we certainly ask and have the plaintiff sit with us at the trial table. (7:32) It’s pretty common for us to have them passing us post-it notes because, you know, (7:36) they might think of something or see something, a jury reaction or something like that, that we might overlook or not be able to see because we’re so busy focusing on the witness or whatnot. (7:47) But yeah, we certainly want the client to be there for trial and we try to make it as normal and a comfortable experience as possible.

(7:57) And ultimately, the jury wants to identify with your client. They want to, you know, you want them to like the client. (8:03) It’s very important in terms of the client and your sense of how they’ll come across to the jury.

(8:10) And, you know, people can be entirely disparate when you start the trial. (8:16) And I could tell you some circumstances, but at the end, when we’ve done a good job and won, they’re with us, you know, (8:23) and they’re going to want to give money to the client that they think deserves it and that they want to see do well. (8:30) So it’s hugely important for us to have the client there and have them involved in the process.

(8:36) So after I guess the jury gets the instructions, after you’ve made your closing statements and then they go and deliberate, (8:43) I imagine you’ve seen a varying lengths of time that it takes these juries to deliberate. (8:47) There’s really no rhyme or reason to it either. You could think, OK, we’ve tried this case.

It’s taken us two weeks. (8:52) You know, it’s going to take a long time to deliberate. And then they’re back, you know, in an hour or two.

(8:56) Yeah. Others, you know, will go all day. We’ve had them go overnight and they’ll finish for the day and go home and come back.

(9:03) But yeah, I mean, that’s all part of the process. And then once it goes back to the jury deliberation room, (9:09) it is truly the jury’s decision at that point. They may have a question that can get answered, (9:14) but that’s extremely rare.

And typically it’s, you know, their recollection of the facts and from the case. (9:21) And that’s what controls. And then when they have a unanimous verdict, they come out and give that verdict.

(9:27) And then that’s it. The end of the trial. (9:29) I always say that regardless of the result, it always takes me three nights to sleep again, you know, (9:35) and that’s part of the drama, because, you know, in hindsight, I look back and, you know, (9:40) I should have won that case or I should have lost that case.

But you don’t know, you know, (9:45) and often you’ll hear the jury, they often really that’s the time they get to talk. (9:50) Yeah. You know, and you can hear you can’t really make out what they’re saying, (9:53) but you hear noise back there and they really seem to often get into it.

(9:56) But that is the drama when you hear that knock and however long you’ve waited and the court personality, (10:04) you know, there’s a verdict. It’s like, oh, my God. (10:07) I can imagine.

Yeah. The conclusion of all of your hard work. (10:11) And we’ve talked about how much work you guys put into each and every case that you have.

(10:15) After that, though, there’s always an appeal that could follow. (10:18) The losing party can always do that. (10:21) Well, that just is more briefing, looking through the transcripts, (10:25) because everything that’s said during a trial is written down, much like any other part of the case, the deposition or whatnot.

(10:30) So, I mean, the appellate process is lengthy. (10:35) Oftentimes we also mediate during the course of an appeal. (10:39) So it’s kind of like phase three.

(10:43) But and that’s also nerve wracking because you submit your briefs to the court of civil appeals or the Alabama Supreme Court. (10:48) And then some series of weeks or months later, they render a decision. (10:54) And it’s always whether it’s submitting it to the jury or submitting it to an appellate court.

(10:58) It’s kind of like, you know, you reach the crest of the roller coaster and then you start going down. (11:03) And at that point, it’s out of our control. But we just try to do our best on the climb up.

(11:06) Well, what a great breakdown. And again, remind folks if they do want to learn more about Tobias & Comer Law. (11:11) I talk about the website all the time, TobiasComerLaw.com (11:14) If they want to give you a call, too, for that free consultation, what’s that number? (11:16) 2-5-1-4-3-2-5-0-0-1.

(11:20) All right. Well, really appreciate it. Thanks for having me back here.

(11:23) Thank you for coming. It’s always good to see you. (11:25) Yeah.

And I can’t wait to come back out. (11:27) Or I’m sure you guys will make it back over to the FM Talk studio soon. (11:30) So we really appreciate it.

(11:32) That’s another edition of Law 251 right here on FM Talk 106.5. (11:36) Coming up next, The Jeff Poore Show. (11:37) And Mobile Morning is back with you live tomorrow morning. (11:42) No representation is made that legal services performed are greater than the quality of legal services of others.