The Parties

The people or entities who are directly involved in a lawsuit are called parties. They are plaintiffs (those who are suing in a civil case) or defendants (those being sued in a civil case or accused in criminal cases). The parties may be present at the counsel tables with their lawyers during the trial. Defendants in criminal cases have a constitutional right to be present at their trials. Specifically, the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution provides that "the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to be confronted with the witnesses against him." Parties in civil cases also have a right to attend their trials, but they often choose not to.

Witnesses

Witnesses give testimony about the facts or issues in the case that are in dispute. During their testimony, they sit on the witness stand, facing the courtroom. Because the witnesses are asked to testify by one party or the other, they are often referred to as plaintiff's witnesses, government witnesses, or defense witnesses.

Lawyers

In the courtroom, the lawyers for each party will either be sitting at the counsel tables near the bench or be speaking to the judge, a witness, or the jury. Each lawyer's task is to bring out the facts that put his or her client's case in the most favorable light, but to do so using approved legal procedures. In a criminal case, the government's lawyer is called the prosecutor -- usually an assistant district attorney (state court cases) or assistant U.S. attorney (federal court cases). Criminal defendants may be represented by a public defender, a lawyer appointed by the court, or a private attorney hired by the defendant. In a civil case, the parties must hire their own lawyers.

The Judge

The judge presides over court proceedings from the "bench," which is usually an elevated platform. The judge has five basic tasks:

• to preside over the proceedings and see that order is maintained;
• to determine whether any of the evidence that the parties want to use is illegal or improper;
• in jury trials, to give the jury instructions about the law that applies to the case and the standards it must use in deciding the case before it begins its deliberations about the facts in the case;
• in "bench" trials (cases tried before the judge, without a jury), to determine the facts and decide the case; and
• to sentence convicted criminal defendants.