Hearing preparation checklist: the 8-week countdown — free to copy
⚠ Important — please read this first. The guidance and templates in the FtP Navigator are general information for UK regulated professionals. They are not legal advice, and reading or using them does not create a solicitor–client relationship with Regulation Resolution Solicitors Ltd. Every case turns on its own facts and evidence, regulators change their rules and guidance, and a template used in the wrong situation can damage your case. You use this material entirely at your own risk: to the fullest extent permitted by law, Regulation Resolution Solicitors Ltd accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss arising from reliance on it. If your case involves dishonesty, sexual misconduct, criminal proceedings, vulnerable patients or an interim order hearing — or if you are unsure about anything — take specialist legal advice before acting.
How to use this page. Read it at the stage your case has reached, and bookmark it now so you can come straight back when you need it — press Ctrl+D (Windows) or Cmd+D (Mac) on a computer, or tap the share icon → “Add bookmark” on your phone. Fitness to practise cases run for months; you will want this page again. If you’re not sure where your case is up to, start at the FtP Navigator hub and follow the stages in order.
This free hearing preparation checklist is the working countdown for a UK fitness to practise hearing — every task from eight weeks out to the final week, with tick-boxes, case identifiers and a day-by-day hearing log. Tick each item as it is completed, and copy the whole checklist straight from this page.
It is the companion template to our guide on preparing for your fitness to practise hearing. Read that guide first — it explains the reasoning behind every item here, from the three-line case theory to witness familiarisation and the hearing-day kit. Several items link back to earlier Navigator stages, starting with the evidence analysis schedule.
When should you use this template?
Open this checklist the day your hearing date is fixed — and no later than eight weeks out. Preparation is a craft skill, not a tick-box exercise: the aim is to enter the hearing knowing every page of the bundle, every witness’s case, and every weakness in your own account. If you arrive hoping something will turn up, it usually turns up for the other side. The checklist keeps the craft honest: nothing drifts, nothing is left to the final week that belonged in week four.
How do you use this template?
Copy the checklist into your own document (use the “Copy template text” button) and fill in the case identifiers. Work through each phase in order, ticking items as they complete and logging dates and outstanding actions in your own notes column. If you are represented, share the live version with your solicitor or counsel so everyone works from the same countdown. Use the day-by-day log during the hearing itself — evidence taken, issues to follow up, documents to produce overnight.
Practice tip. The single most valuable item on this checklist is the three-line case theory at eight weeks. If you cannot say in three lines why the panel should find no impairment — or why the sanction should be modest — you are not ready, and everything else on the list will drift.
The template
(Copy and adapt from the page — use the buttons above the template. Working template — copy and adapt to your case and regulator. Not legal advice; use at your own risk.)
Working template — copy and adapt to your case and regulator. Not legal advice; use at your own risk.
HEARING PREPARATION CHECKLIST
Case identifiers
- Registrant: [name]
- Regulator / case reference: [reference]
- Hearing start date: [date]
- Hearing format (in person / remote / hybrid): [format]
- Counsel: [name]
8 weeks out
- ☐ Case papers read end to end
- ☐ Allegation-to-evidence map prepared (evidence analysis schedule)
- ☐ Case theory drafted in three lines
- ☐ Defence witness list drafted
- ☐ Disclosure requests sent (unused material / equality of arms)
- ☐ Counsel instructed; first conference booked
- ☐ All directions deadlines diarised
4 weeks out
- ☐ Registrant’s witness statement signed and dated
- ☐ Defence witness statements obtained
- ☐ Expert report received and reviewed
- ☐ Character references obtained
- ☐ Reflective account drafted
- ☐ Cross-examination outlines drafted
- ☐ Outline submissions on facts / impairment / sanction drafted
2 weeks out
- ☐ Registrant’s bundle finalised
- ☐ Skeleton argument exchanged (if directed)
- ☐ Hearing format and technology confirmed and tested
- ☐ All defence witnesses confirmed; calendar invitations sent
- ☐ Witness familiarisation completed
- ☐ Travel and accommodation booked
1 week out
- ☐ Final read-through of bundle
- ☐ Final conference with counsel and registrant
- ☐ Drill of cross-examination of the registrant
- ☐ Hearing-day kit prepared
- ☐ Sleep / food / hydration plan agreed
- ☐ Wellbeing support identified
Day-by-day log
| Day | Evidence taken | Issues to follow up | Documents to produce overnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 |
[END OF TEMPLATE]
Frequently asked questions
What should be on a hearing preparation checklist?
Four phases: strategy at eight weeks (case papers, evidence map, three-line case theory, witnesses, disclosure, counsel); evidence at four weeks (statements, expert report, references, reflective account, cross-examination outlines); bundle and logistics at two weeks; and final readiness in the last week — plus a day-by-day log for the hearing itself.
When should I start preparing for my hearing?
Eight weeks out at the latest — and ideally the day the hearing date is fixed. Your regulator must give at least 28 days’ notice of a final hearing, but the work that wins hearings — the evidence map, the case theory, the disclosure requests — needs far longer than the notice period allows.
What is witness familiarisation?
Familiarisation shows a witness what a hearing looks like: the room layout or remote interface, the order of questioning, and the fact that pausing or asking for a document is normal. It never touches the substance of their evidence — that would be coaching, which is professionally improper and unlawful.
What should I do during the hearing days?
Keep the day-by-day log: note the evidence taken, the issues to follow up and the documents to produce overnight. Debrief with your representative at the end of each day, update the cross-examination outlines based on what was elicited, and rest — the case is run in the hearing room.
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Need help preparing for your hearing?
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This page is general information, not legal advice. No liability is accepted for reliance on it. Rules and guidance change — always check the current position or take specialist advice.