The hard questions, before they’re on the record.

Testimony changes case outcomes, but witness prep eats attorney days. With Truss, your witness practices against an AI examiner customized to emulate the real deposition or day in court. You get a report showing exactly where they need work.

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Witness prep for litigators

Live deposition prep session — Reyes v. Meridian Ins.REC 58:12

Examiner

Dana Reyes

Exhibit 4shown 13:52

Q. When did you first see the March claims file?

Transcript

Q. And you'd agree the delay was unreasonable?

A. “That's not a judgment I can make.”

helddid not adopt phrasing

Q. When did you first see the claims file?

A. “I would assume March, if it was in the folder—”

▶ 14:07speculation

Q. So it's fair to say the process was sloppy?

A. “No. That's your word, not mine.”

held

Q. What did Ms. Calder tell you afterward?

A. “We talked about the meeting, and also the budget issues, and—”

▶ 19:32volunteered

Q. Isn't it true you never checked? …(silence)

A. “Could you rephrase the question?”

asked for clarification

Q. You didn't not review the addendum, did you?

A. “Can you ask that again in plain terms?”

double negative challenged

Q. Let's look at Exhibit 7, third paragraph.

A. “(Exhibit 7 appears on the witness's screen)”

exhibit shown 31:16

Q. And you'd agree the delay was unreasonable?

A. “That's not a judgment I can make.”

helddid not adopt phrasing

Q. When did you first see the claims file?

A. “I would assume March, if it was in the folder—”

▶ 14:07speculation

Q. So it's fair to say the process was sloppy?

A. “No. That's your word, not mine.”

held

Q. What did Ms. Calder tell you afterward?

A. “We talked about the meeting, and also the budget issues, and—”

▶ 19:32volunteered

Q. Isn't it true you never checked? …(silence)

A. “Could you rephrase the question?”

asked for clarification

Q. You didn't not review the addendum, did you?

A. “Can you ask that again in plain terms?”

double negative challenged

Q. Let's look at Exhibit 7, third paragraph.

A. “(Exhibit 7 appears on the witness's screen)”

exhibit shown 31:16

Why practice

Testimony decides the case. Practice decides the testimony.

Confidence

In one of the best-known studies of jury decision-making, only one of ten factors tested reliably swayed jurors: how confidently the witness answered, not what they knew. Confidence is trainable.

Cutler, Penrod & Stuve, 1988

Repetition

Preparing one witness for a single day of testimony takes 14 to 21 hours of attorney time, by the profession's own 3:1 rule of thumb. Most of it is the same drill, run by hand.

ABA Litigation Journal; the 3:1 rule

How it works

You direct the examination. Truss runs it.

01 / Plan

Truss drafts the examination

Upload the case documents and name the witnesses. Truss drafts each one’s examination: topics in order, with lead questions, follow-ups, and exhibit language to read verbatim.

02 / Practice

The witness practices

Send a private link. Your witness faces a live video examiner that asks the questions on your plan, and puts exhibits on their screen when it names them.

03 / Review

Review and go again

When the session ends, see exactly where your witness needs work, then run another session on exactly that.

The report

Then you get the record.

Every session becomes a report tied to the transcript. Each answer is measured against the discipline you’re drilling and flagged where your witness guessed, volunteered, or adopted the examiner’s words, with a jump link to the moment in the recording. You review an hour of testimony in minutes and scope the next session the same day.

TrussAll mattersMatters

Reyes v. Meridian Ins.Dana ReyesM. OkaforCalder v. Northgate

Matters › Reyes v. Meridian Ins. › Dana Reyes › Dana Reyes — Session 2Recording deletes10/22/2026Keep···

Dana Reyes — Practice session 2

9/4/2026, 2:14:07 PM · 142 questions · 22:41

Transcript

The full record. 3 problems marked under the answers they concern.

Show what held up (1)

▶ 13:52

Q:Exhibit 4 is your email of March 3. You had read the schedule attachment before that meeting, correct?

A:I would assume so, if it was in the folder—

Speculation

“I would assume” answered past personal knowledge instead of declining.

▶ 16:41

Q:Earlier you said the March 3 schedule was the current one. Was it?

A:I think so. That’s the one I remember seeing.

Consistency

Hedged restatement of an earlier answer, leaving two versions on the record.

▶ 19:32

Q:Anything else about the March meeting you haven’t told me?

A:No, not that I recall.

Scope

Declined the open-ended catch-all without adding to it.

Examiner

Dana Reyes

Problems

Steady on the timeline, but speculates when a question reaches past personal knowledge.

1Two versions of which schedule was currentConsistency · The March 3 schedule · 16:49
2Guessed at dates twice on the Exhibit 4 stretchSpeculation · The Exhibit 4 attachment · 14:07
3Assumed what the attachment said rather than reading itDocument from memory · The March 3 schedule · 22:41

Ethics & control

The guardrails are built in.

Truss is designed around the ethics of witness preparation. It drills composure and discipline, never content.

Counsel stays in charge

The examiner only asks what you scoped. Truss drills composure and discipline. It never feeds a witness testimony.

asks only what you scoped

Documents stay scoped

Each witness sees only the documents you assign to them. Exhibits appear on their screen exactly when the examiner names them.

unassigned documents stay hidden

Recordings expire

A session recording is deleted 30 days after the session. Each session carries its own date, and you can move it or clear it.

deletes in 30 days

Common questions

Asked and answered.

The questions counsel ask before their first matter. Anything else, ask us directly.

Does Truss replace attorney prep?

No. You supply the documents and the strategy notes; Truss drafts the examination from them, and you edit it or add topics of your own before it runs. Repetition is the part that has to happen more than once; strategy, the theory of the case, and the conversation only you can have with your client stay with you.

Is this witness coaching?

No. Truss drills composure and discipline: how your witness handles questioning, never what they should say. The examiner asks only what you scoped, and it never feeds testimony, suggests answers, or supplies facts. That is the line the ethics of witness preparation draw, and the product is built on your side of it.

We already prep our witnesses thoroughly. What does this add?

Truss reinforces strong prep rather than replacing it. A witness can leave a good prep call knowing exactly what to do and still freeze when the hard question comes from a stranger for real. Knowing the rules and holding to them under pressure are different things. Truss makes the deposition the fifth time your witness has faced that question, not the first, and the report shows you the specific areas that still need your follow-up.

Are practice sessions discoverable?

How preparation materials are treated varies by jurisdiction and situation, and that judgment stays with you. Truss is designed to keep you in control of what exists: a recording is deleted automatically 30 days after the session, on a date you can move or clear per session, and nothing is visible beyond the people you invite to the matter.

What does my witness need to run it?

A browser and a camera. You send a private link; the witness practices on their own time, without installing anything or attending a scheduled session.

Will my witness manage it on their own?

The link you send is theirs alone, and it opens the session with no account to make and nothing to download. Before anything starts, the lobby checks their camera and microphone and says so if something is wrong.