This paper offers tips for criminal lawyers on how to organize a file and prepare for trial. It discusses the benefits of creating a trial preparation sheet, and provides suggestions for what to include in, and how to effectively organize, such a document. A sample trial preparation sheet is included.

This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Criminal Procedure Fundamentals program in Calgary on September 21, 2018 and in Edmonton on September 28, 2018.