Updating Litigation Chronologies

A litigation chronology should be regarded as a living document rather than a one-off exercise undertaken at the commencement of proceedings.

Best practice requires the chronology to be reviewed whenever there is a significant development in the litigation. This includes, for example:

• receipt of new documentary evidence;
• exchange of witness statements;
• service of expert reports;
• amendments to statements of case;
• disclosure of previously unknown documents;
• important correspondence between the parties;
• procedural directions made by the court; or
• settlement discussions affecting the issues in dispute.

Updating the chronology regularly enables legal practitioners to maintain an accurate understanding of the factual matrix throughout the litigation. It also ensures that conferences with clients, consultations with counsel and preparation for hearings are based upon the most current information available.

Version control is equally important. Each updated chronology should note the date on which it is revised and, where necessary, specify the types of changes made. This also helps collaborative legal teams avoid the use of out-of-date versions.

The course of events, before each substantial procedural step – be it mediation, interim applications, disclosure stage, preparation for trial or negotiations towards a settlement – should invariably be checked with its counterparts in the written evidence/pleadings/witness statements to establish consistency and coherence throughout.

In the end, an accurate chronology is not just a list of past events; instead, it is one of the most important case management tools available to support sound decision making during all stages and across the entire continuum of a dispute.

References (OSCOLA)

1. Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r 1.1 (The Overriding Objective).
2. Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Part 32 (Evidence).
3. Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Practice Direction 32 (Evidence), paras 17.1–20.2.
4. Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Part 3 (The Court's Case Management Powers).
5. Lord Woolf, Access to Justice: Final Report (HMSO 1996) chs 4–5.
6. Sir Rupert Jackson, Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report (TSO 2009) ch 2.