Understanding Legal Case Chronologies

A legal case chronology is a chronological and methodical arrangement of the various facts of a legal case that can be easily referred to when required. Such a chronology is very useful for attorneys during case presentation in court as well as in legal discussions. It equips legal professionals to navigate even the most intricate cases. A carefully prepared chronology enables effective communication among all the trial participants, and this helps achieve a favorable case outcome. It helps the attorney to present a strong argument in court, anticipate the arguments the opposite counsel may present, and ultimately secure a favorable judgment. In medical-legal cases such as personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability, workers’ compensation, social security disability and insurance claims and settlements, medical case chronologies are also important.

Key Benefits of Using a Legal Case Chronology

Let us consider the key advantages of legal case chronologies.

• First and foremost, a good case chronologies is the most effective way to communicate all aspects of your case. When the various legally important facts are clearly outlined, they are clear in your mind as well so that there is no ambiguity whatsoever.
• Legal case chronologies show where your case is most robust as well as where it is not so and also gives an idea regarding what information is still needed. This is the best way to ensure that you get all required testimony, documents and so on even at the discovery phase of the case.
• Chronologies facilitate communication with your clients during settlement discussions, depositions and other instances. Besides, you can also use it during the trial itself to communicate various facts clearly to the judge and jury.
• Good case chronologies are excellent tools for collaboration among legal team members. They help expedite case processing, and everyone can share valuable information and ideas.

The Legal Case Chronology Preparation

The chronology provides an overview of the case, mapping out the important legal and medical events in a clear timeline. Any red flags are clearly marked to signify areas of concern and you can refer to the source documents for more information. Each entry is hyperlinked to the respective source document, which enables you to quickly and easily locate the details you want without having to search through thousands of records.

• Listing the key players involved: These comprise the witnesses, attorneys, legal experts, relevant organizations and so on. A list is made of all these players, which can be updated whenever needed. Such a list will help speed up organization and classification of the documents as well as evidence.
• Identifying the issues: This is a vital aspect of case analysis and strategy development. You get to associate the various substantiating facts of the case and obtain an accurate timeline.
• Listing main as well as possibly relevant facts and other information that may prove useful in the long run.
• Creating document abstracts: This involves creating important extracts and facts based on the original documents. It can be categorized into groups such as issue, fact, event, custodian, author and so on. Each of these will be linked to the spot where they occur.
• Linking the evidence to the particular fact or issue: Typically, software systems can be used to automatically link the evidence to applicable facts and issues. These systems can immediately locate important evidence and the proof for any event or fact. At the click of the mouse, you can go to the particular page and line in the relevant source document.

If you are to benefit from the legal case chronology, you must have the right tools to develop the chronology and use it effectively. A good tool would connect all the key pieces of evidence such as important extracts, dates, witness testimony, issues, facts and events in an accurate and up-to-date chronology. The advantage of this is that key information can be linked to one another for clarity in understanding. Legal case chronology software helps organize fragmented data, and develop an accurate chronology and timeline which is a great support to busy legal professionals managing multiple cases simultaneously. It provides a well-organized view of a case’s development and enables the lawyer to build a strong argument.  Providers of medical records services have the best tools in place to develop accurate medical case chronologies, which are vital in legal cases that involve a medical component.