Timeline of Events (Re: Drafting)

Overview

The art of litigation is ultimately the art of story telling. In my personal experience, the person that tells the most internally consistent story is the person who is generally successful in litigation. By internally consistent I mean, the facts that are being described by the party to the action are consistent with the objective evidence available. Evidence alone does not win cases, an internally consistent narrative properly aligned with available supporting evidence such as documents, videos, or audio files, is what wins cases.

The difference between making a case, and defending a case.

Required Documents

• Table of Documents (Drafting a Timeline)
• Book of Documents (Drafting a Timeline)

Elements of an Incident

• Date of Event:
• Time of Event:
• People Involved:
• Location of Events (Place):
• Summary of Interactions (Pleaded Facts):
• Documents or Other Related Evidence:

The above six elements are required to describe a single incident within a series of events. When I say the incident, I am referring to an event that is restricted to a single point in time. Eg.. eating dinner at night is a single incident within a day. An incident can also be thought of as a single scene in a movie or television show, all the elements of an incident must be present in an explanation of a single incident. If more then one period of time is involved then there is by necessity more then one incident.

Critical Concepts in Timeline Drafting

• A Cornerstone Event, is a single event that sets in motion the events that playout in the proceeding.
• Use of Evidence in the storyline, if you want to include a piece of evidence in a hearing you must be able to include the document in the timeline of events.