Perhaps the most crucial element of preparation, the sources said, is making sure their client knows their audience. “This is a situation where you’re on two really tricky stages at once,” Loven summarized it, “and you need to survive both of them.”

First, a client must prepare for the “inside game,” the senators themselves. Glover would advise “hard, smart, savvy inquisitors across the table” for at least three blocks of two-to-three hours of prep. “You’d subject them to what is, in essence, a murder board: asking them the most uncomfortable, disquieting, humiliating questions. You want to have that person become fully centered and understanding of all aspects of their emotions on these very personal matters.”

Loven predicted that senators will spend a lot of time grilling Ford on the timing of her allegations, in order to try and tease out a political motive. “They’ll want to know, if her story is so solid, why now? Why all of the sudden at the 11th hour? Because there’s a little bit about that that doesn’t make sense from a very distance perspective,” she said.

“She’ll also probably get questions about her life in between high school and [this past] summer, whether she’s working with outside groups, who else is supporting her,” the Washington lawyer said.