The challenge and potential future of court chronologies

In the realm of mediation and litigation, presenting a structured timeline of events can be the difference between a setback and success, and chronologies serve as a fundamental tool for mediators to establish a clear sequence of events in a case.

Despite the critical importance of chronologies, customers tell us that they can be underused in court proceedings due to the laborious nature of their creation. However, the need to clearly communicate cases to the court has driven a resurgence in the need for chronologies.

Existing chronology-building software often falls short in efficiency, leaving legal professionals grappling with cumbersome, manual workflows. As disputes become more complex and the legal landscape grows more congested, there’s a pressing need for a smarter way to build well-structured chronologies. Fortunately, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) presents an opportunity to transform this landscape. 

Key benefits of court chronologies

Clarity and understanding

An organised, visual representation of case facts is crucial to ensure all parties understand the context of a case. Evidence needs to align with the corresponding reference point in the timeline so a case strategy can be formed. This establishes causality between events so opposing arguments can be anticipated. 

Team alignment

Chronologies play a vital role in fostering cohesive collaboration among legal teams by providing a single point of truth within the case timeline. This common reference point is crucial to ensure all discussions are grounded within the same context. 

Counsel briefing

To grasp the key events of the case, the counsel needs to receive a cross-referenced, structured timeline. Chronologies distil complex case details into a single, concise format which cuts down on reading time, allowing counsel to get to the core of issues faster.

Presentation in court

A well-structured chronology can provide clarity in court. It ensures the judge and jury can contextualise narratives as intended and identify any inconsistencies provided by the witness.

Flaws with traditional methods of building chronologies

Traditional methods of crafting chronologies lack structure, automation and refinement. 

Scattered documents

Conventional chronology-building involves sifting through diverse formats of case documents, witness statements and evidence to identify key events and their chronological order. Juggling unstructured spreadsheets and collections of raw documents presents a weak foundation to begin crafting a cohesive timeline.

Time consuming

What’s more, storing evidence across different repositories adds another layer of complexity. Manually analysing evidence and cross-referencing excerpts to a timeline is a labour-intensive process, especially in complex cases.

Ineffective collaboration

The absence of a centralised chronology-builder tool can result in multiple versions of documents, causing confusion. Conventional approaches lack real-time collaboration features, where changes and edits to the chronology may not be shown. This can majorly compromise the case and create inconsistencies within the chronology.

Is there a software solution? 

There’s a clear lack of chronology-building tools. Most software offers basic timeline features but none automatically build chronologies for you.

Using AI provides an exciting opportunity to automate chronology-building, streamlining cross-referencing and creating case timelines in minutes.

What to look for 

Efficient fact extraction

Any software should use advanced algorithms that can analyse documents and automatically extract facts and events.

Automatic chronology-creation

It should use AI to produce a clear timeline of events in a concise workflow.

Seamless cross-referencing

Chronology software should be able to establish connections between events and available evidence. 

Intuitive narrative and evidence viewers

It should offer a clear display of evidence alongside the chronology, rather than across different interfaces.

Real-time collaboration

Any software should be able to support real-time cooperation between multiple parties simultaneously. 

Court-ready exports

It needs to be able to produce clear exports in alignment with court guidelines.

Bundles

It should include the ability to cross-reference to the location of evidence within your bundle.

Considering the challenges of producing chronologies, along with the benefits they bring, we’re happy to introduce a smart, elegant solution, utilising advanced technology and AI, for chronology-building.