As a witness for the plaintiff in a large upcoming civil suit, you are feeling nervous about giving testimony, and would like to know how the whole trial process works. A friend of yours explains how a trial proceeds and how witnesses are dealt with during the trial. Repeat here what she tells you.

Students should list the Civil Court Procedure steps found in Chapter 2. Witnesses are usually given the chance prior to the trial to go over their evidence with the lawyer who will be examining them in chief, although he cannot tell them what to say. If you are an expert witness, your lawyer will generally have you first explain how you are qualified to give expert evidence. You would be testifying about the significance of direct evidence or about the background circumstances that explain or help verify the direct evidence. If you are an ordinary witness, you can only give evidence about matters of which you have direct knowledge. If you are being treated unfairly by the other party's lawyer on cross-examination, it is the responsibility of the lawyer for whose client you are appearing to ask the judge to prevent that from continuing. Once you have testified and the trial is over, you would not be called upon at any other stage of the process.