The Importance of Documents in Civil Litigation

One cannot stress enough the importance that documents have in civil litigation. Whether it be a contract dispute, personal injury claim, or divorce case, the identification, collection, and organization of documents is critical to the success of most lawsuits. The process of collecting and organizing documents can be tedious and time consuming. If you are considering retaining a lawyer for a litigation matter,it is be extremely helpful and cost-saving if you come to the first meeting with all relevant documents in your possession presented to your prospective lawyer in an organized fashion. It is well worth your while spending a number of hours copying, tabulating, and indexing your documents. Lawyers love to look at matters chronologically, and if your documents are arranged in chronological order the lawyer will be able to quickly grasp the essence of your case. Most law firms now scan their documents, the cost of which is billed to their clients. If you have access to a good scanner, you can save money and time if you scan all of your documents and date and name them. You can then simply provide them to your lawyer on a disk or flash drive. When you get a request from your lawyer for a particular document, you should provide it as quickly as possible, for often the absence of that single document is what is stopping your case from proceeding. If your documents are under control, your lawsuit is under control, and you will have a much better chance of it concluding inexpensively in your favour.