I am currently writing a section about ‘Trial’ in the 2nd Edition of the Contentious Probate Handbook for publication by the Law Society. In that section I recently wrote, 

‘Know the bundles inside out. If you are not on top of the Bundles you are not on top of the case. Make sure that the name of any electronic bundle corresponds with that of a hard copy bundle. Remember that the first few minutes of any hearing are crucial because first impressions count. So if you are wasting valuable daylight labelling a bundle because there is an inconsistency between the electronic and hard copy, you will appear to the judge to be disorganised, in which case you will have planted a seed of doubt in the judge’s mind about the coherence of your client’s case, i.e. its veracity in law on the facts and evidence. In court the Barrister is a General. If a General does not know where his troops are deployed, the conduct of the battle is likely to end in catastrophe because of incompetence. Demonstrating incompetence from the start is not how to make a good first impression. Nor is fumbling around trying to find where a point is dealt with in your papers, or suddenly stopping in mid-sentence, because your papers are out of order. These are hallmarks of lack of preparation. Having to apologise to the court for anything in the first five minutes is not good. Having to do so because you are not on top of your own case is worse.’