Organizing Evidence for Attorney Review
Updated: Oct 17
The biggest unkept secret but non-secret — GREAT ORGANIZATION!
Organizing your evidence has so many benefits and important factors but a huge one that most people don’t think about is the COST SAVINGS!
The more chaotic and disorganized that your information is the more time it is going to require your legal staff to review, make sense, and prepare those documents for use on your case.
You live and breathe this reality, unfortunately, and any lawyer - judge - paralegal - mediator - parenting coordinator - guardian ad litem - or other court resource is just coming in for a snippet of it all. Each email, phone call, and document is a few minutes of there everyday but it is a replay of a scenario that you have played on repeat in your head too many times to count and just one repeating scenario that is part of a million others just like it. You know it and remember it because it is part of you, but they don’t feel it the same way as you because it isn’t their reality.
That is no fault of theirs, just reality.
Preparing your documentation can and should be handled in the same no matter which legal professional you are preparing it for. Your end thought though should be about your case and what is the best way to ensure a judge sees the facts.
Capture any and all information BUT before handing it over, ask yourself the following questions to determine the significance
Does the information matter when looked at individually?
Does the information move the needle of impact?
What point does the information prove?
Would someone be able to tell what the information is without knowing anything about the case?
Does it show a pattern?
Does what you are documenting impact the kids or your emotions? (If custody based)
Does what you are documenting impact how assets should be divided (if a divorce)
What kind of story or picture does the information say about you?
What kind of story or picture does the information say about the opposing party?
If someone else told you that this was happening to them or their child do you think it would be important?
Is it important enough for a deciding factor to remember it?
It is easy to say that everything is important and moves the needle but the truth is..it isn’t and it doesn’t. Emotionally it hits harder for you because it isn’t a solo act in your journey but one that happened right after a previous one and right before another one happened.
So since we know how to question if the information is importation enough, lets talk about how you physically prepare these documents.
|| this is one of the pieces I love, taking the chaotic information and making it clean and tell a story ||
Plan for one topic per document
You can have one document that summarizes multiple documents
Try to have the information presentable on one page (font size needs to be readable)
Outline a pattern within the material (if you can)
Put a title on your document (doing this in the header saves space)
Put your case number on your document (doing this in the footer saves space)
Do not add extra words (clear and to the point)
These are not diary entries (cut the emotion - just facts)
If you are presenting text messages you MUST include
Phone number messages are sent to and from
Date messages sent
Full conversation (cannot be partial messages)
If you are presenting emails you MUST include
Email address messages are sent to and from
Date messages sent
Full conversation (cannot be partial messages)
This process seems like the easiest because you know you have data point after data point to tell anyone that looks what has been happening but it isn’t this simple easy process because this is where our emotions take over.
When our emotions are controlling the drivers seat the information becomes less clear.
The supporting documents that you submit to your lawyer, opposing counsel, parenting coordinators, guardian ad litems (GAL), and judges will be reviewed more than once so you need to ensure it answers the questions in a supportive way, tells a story that supports your stance, and is understandable.
—> I know I previously mentioned the financial impacts of what you choose to submit and I want to explain this a little bit more.
If you have a lawyer then you need to understand that each reach out and document that you send to your lawyer is going to be reviewed by a paralegal and your lawyer MULTIPLE times. The more of a mess that your information is the more times they are going to have to review it and take some sort of action. Each time they touch something your time card is being punched for time served. Each time that ticket is punched is more time that you are paying for their services.
This also goes in the reverse; if your counter party (the other person in your case) has a lawyer then all of the documents that you submit in discovery are going to be reviewed by them and their team multiple times. Now this costs isn’t on you, but you never know, it could be. [if ordered to pay their legal fees that is your problem then]
This same logic and math plays a part when submitting documents to parenting coordinators and mediators. The more they have to touch something the more it comes out of your retainer or becomes part of their billable hours against your case.
Taking the financial piece of out of things, pretend all labor is free ((lets dream for a moment)), the more of a foggy mess that your documentation is the more likely it isn’t going to be used. You could have some really strong information that could make a difference in your case but if it isn’t understandable then people wont reference it. That could be the straw that gets added to the camels back and makes a negative impact to your case.
I know the pressure comes off as more intense —- it is. The minute you got involved in this case your emotions got trigged because it is personal. Take time but know you don’t have forever to create your supporting material.
Take Notes
Review your materials
Review your materials again
Don’t worry I will be back and we will discuss how to make a parenting plan
What to include
How to form it so there is less grey areas
How to create it so it lasts through your children’s ages
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