Alaska Court System, CIV-720 Eviction Booklet

Citation: Alaska Court System, CIV-720 Eviction Booklet
Jurisdiction: Alaska (state)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://public.courts.alaska.gov/web/forms/docs/civ-720.pdf ↗

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money judgment to one side.
CIV-720 EVICTION BOOKLET (8/23) 20
C. TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR AND REPRESENTING
YOURSELF AT TRIAL
Representing yourself in a formal civil trial can be difficult, but you can be
successful if you organize your case, spend some time preparing, and remain calm
and respectful in court. Some suggestions to follow are:
1. If possible, watch other trials of similar cases to yours. This will help you be
more familiar and comfortable with how court usually works. You can check
daily calendars on the court’s website. Most trials are open to the public.
2. Make an outline ahead of time about what you want to say in court when you
testify. Talk about each issue one at a time. An outline will help you not to
forget things or get side-tracked during trial. Include in your outline when
you want to show the judge your exhibits (documents, photographs, etc.)
during your testimony. As you are explaining your side of the story, use your
exhibits to support what you are saying.
3. Practice your testimony with friends or family. Ask them to give you honest
feedback about things you said that did not make sense or that they had
questions about.
4. If you are going to have witnesses testify for you, do not tell them what to
say, but do let them know in general what your case is about and what topics
you want them to discuss, so that they are prepared. Also explain to them
how and when to get to court (if they are going to be there in person) or how
the court will contact them (if they are testifying on the phone or over Zoom).
5. During the trial, do not worry too much about objecting to the other side’s
evidence or making complicated legal arguments. Usually, the best strategy is
to simply tell the judge your side in a complete and organized way.
6. Do not