Trial presentation services in Los Angeles state and federal courts.

Trial presentation services for Los Angeles trial teams

We are based in Southern California. You work with the same trial technician during preparation and in the hot seat. We agree the equipment and backup arrangements before the engagement.

Our founder, Jolie Zajac, has worked in trial presentation since 2018. Her work includes 100+ trials nationwide, 100,000+ exhibits presented, 1,000+ deposition video clips and 50+ courthouses served. She holds the OnCue Advanced User Certification and works in OnCue, TrialDirector and Sanction. See how hot seat trial support works, or meet Jolie.

Where civil trials are heard in Los Angeles

For LASC, the court’s courthouse directory lists judges assigned to general civil work at the jury courthouses below. Its DEPS column shows which courtrooms have the Digital Evidence Presentation System. Notes are as of September 29, 2026; confirm your department with the court.

When the courtroom is assigned on the trial date

LASC Local Rule 2.4 makes Department 1, Central Civil, a master calendar court. Since the May 4, 2026 Stanley Mosk renumbering, it is Department 534. Under Local Rule 2.5(c)(1), when a trial-ready Central District case moves from its all-purpose judge to another courtroom for trial, any section 170.6 challenge must be made that same day in Department 1. In master calendar cases, trial preparation motions are heard on the first day of trial (Local Rule 3.25(f)(3)).

The court is phasing out the Personal Injury hub at Spring Street, and new unlimited PI cases have been assigned within their districts since October 10, 2022. Under the hub’s standing order, hub courts do not conduct trials. On the trial date, the hub court obtains a courtroom from Department 1, and the parties have 20 minutes to exercise a peremptory challenge to the assigned court.

So the courtroom, staff and equipment may be known only on the morning of trial. We plan for a room with DEPS and one without:

• A setup that does not depend on the courtroom’s system.
• For non-Apple laptops, output no higher than 1920 x 1080 at 100% text scale, per the court’s DEPS quick reference guide.
• VGA and 3.5 mm audio cables, the only DEPS connection the guide lists for Apple and HDMI 2.0+ devices.
• A tech check with the new department’s staff as soon as the case is assigned.

Federal civil trials in the Central District

The Central District’s Los Angeles courtrooms are in the Mendez and Roybal courthouses. The court lists district judge courtrooms in both with a document camera, annotation monitors at the lectern and witness stand, and a 65-inch display at the end of the jury box. The judge and courtroom deputy control whether an image reaches the jury.

• Book the test. The court’s courtroom technology page asks counsel to book its technicians at (213) 894-3061 one to three weeks ahead, and no later than three days before the proceeding.
• Get devices approved. Local Rule 83-6.5 requires electronic devices to be turned off in courtrooms unless the court approves otherwise in advance.
• Outside equipment. Laptops may connect, but attorneys provide their own technical assistance, and the court advises against bringing a separate visual presenter.
• Match the numbering. L.R. 16-6.1 keeps deposition exhibit numbers at trial, L.R. 16-6.2 numbers enlargements with a suffix (Exh. 24A), and L.R. 16-2.7 has each side bracket its designations in its own color.

Getting equipment into the courtroom

Everyone entering an LASC courthouse is subject to weapons screening (General Order 2025-GEN-002-00), and the court advises allowing extra time for entry. Its prohibited items list includes laser pointers and property that cannot be “safely, adequately, or efficiently screened,” at the Sheriff’s discretion. We annotate on screen rather than with a laser pointer and pack cases that open easily. Federal visitors pass through a metal detector and need picture ID.

LASC Local Rule 2.17(b) requires the judicial officer’s express written permission to carry camera, microphone or recording equipment in a courtroom, or to activate a computer’s camera or microphone there. Raise a portable document camera, laptop webcam or remote witness link with the department early.

Stanley Mosk opens at 7:30 a.m., the other LASC courthouses above at 8:00 a.m., and both federal buildings at 7:00 a.m. For an equipment van, the court lists a 6’6” clearance at the parking structure near the Pasadena Courthouse.

A Los Angeles trial presentation timeline

Counsel sets the dates; confirm each step against the department’s requirements and the LASC Local Rules.

1. Exhibits. Rule 3.52 calls for exchanged, pre-numbered exhibits, except good-faith impeachment material, and Rule 3.53 requires internal pagination of multi-page documents. The database uses the same numbers.
2. Final status conference. Rule 3.25(f) sets the FSC no more than ten days before trial, with exhibit lists, witness lists and other trial documents due at least five days before it. In direct calendar cases, motions in limine are heard at the FSC.
3. Designations and clips. Rule 3.158 requires leave of court and page-line disclosure before a video deposition is shown. California Rules of Court, rule 2.1040(a), adds a lodged transcript, page-line identification on the record during playback and, unless the reporter took it down, marked pages filed afterward. We cut deposition video clips from final designations and counterdesignations, each with its page-line cite.
4. Opening slides. Rule 3.97 provides that graphics and video should not be shown in opening unless admitted, stipulated or allowed by the court.
5. Tech check, then trial. Rule 3.155 prefers enlargements or projections of exhibits to handing jurors copies.

For the full handoff, use the trial presentation preparation checklist.

What we handle, and what a trial consultant does

Our trial support services in Los Angeles cover the presentation itself: the exhibit database built and checked from counsel’s exhibit list, deposition video synced and clipped, the hot seat run at counsel’s direction, and courtroom and war-room equipment planned and tested. We also coordinate the trial graphics Los Angeles counsel approve with the team that designs them.

If you are looking for a trial consultant in Los Angeles, that is a different engagement. We are trial presentation specialists working at counsel’s direction; jury research, jury consulting and trial strategy consulting are outside our scope. Trial teams usually engage those consultants separately, and we coordinate presentation files with them.

Tell us where and when you are going to trial

Share the courthouse and department if known, the trial date and length, and what exists: exhibit list, database, designations and video. No case files are needed yet. You get a personal reply within 24 hours. An NDA or confidentiality terms come before any materials are transferred, and we are insured, including E&O. Check availability for your Los Angeles trial.