Okay, so you've won (or lost) at trial and it is over. Now you can go on to the next case. In a very short time, your memory of the trial will start to fade. But then an appeal is filed and your appellate attorney (sometimes me) questions you about what happened below. One of the first questions I might ask is who has the exhibits. Were the exhibits released to the parties or did the court retain custody of them? The court, having received complaints from the clerk that there is little room for storage, will encourage you to take the original exhibits. You would be surprised how many attorneys can't remember what happened to the exhibits. Now the appellate attorney, who has to transmit the exhibits to the court of appeal, must go searching for them. My trial tip would be to insist that the trial court maintain custody of exhibits. That reduces the chance of loss and preserves their integrity. If the court is resistant to this suggestion, maybe you can compromise and agree to pick up the originals after the period of filing a notice of appeal has expired.