Preparing for civil trial in federal court is a time-consuming and daunting process for both outside counsel and in-house attorneys. Counsel must perform many administrative tasks, make logistical arrangements for the attorneys and witnesses and prepare to try the case, all of which can quickly become overwhelming. However, attorneys typically expect cases to settle, and, as a result, trial preparation often does not begin as soon as it should. In many cases, this leaves attorneys scrambling to figure out what needs to be done with little time, resulting in a trial by fire.