PREPARING BUNDLES: A FREE ONLINE TOOL THAT MAY WELL HELP: INTRODUCING “BUNTOOL”
The last few weeks have seen a number of cases where judges have been critical (if not despairing) at the quality of the the bundles used at trials and applications. My attention has been drawn to “BunTool” a free online…
“THIS IS AN UNUSUAL PROBATE CLAIM IN THAT THE DECEASED SAYS SHE IS VERY MUCH ALIVE”: A CHAOTIC TRIAL WHERE NO-ONE SEEMS TO HAVE THE SAME PAGINATION IN THE BUNDLES: AND THATS NOT EVEN HALF OF THE PROBLEMS…
The past few weeks have led to a number of cases about bundles. My working theory about trial and application bundles is that problematic bundles often reflect a much deeper malaise in the case itself. Support for that theory can…
WHAT DOCUMENTS SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN BUNDLES? “HUGGER-MUGGER” BUNDLES, WITH CRUCIAL DOCUMENTS MISSING: THE “ABILITY PROPERLY TO TEST THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER SIDE”
The judgment of HHJ Paul Matthews in Bains v Irshad & Anor [2025] EWHC 491 (Ch) contains much of interest (not least there are not many civil judgments which end with the judgment stating that, because of the claimant’s evidence,…
ANOTHER CASE INVOLVING BUNDLES: DIFFERENCES IN PAGINATION AND OTHER MISHAPS MEANT THAT A DECISION WAS UNFAIR AND THERE WAS AN ERROR OF LAW
In RP v Barnsley Metropolitan District Council [2025] UKUT 46 (AAC) Edward Jacobs, Upper Tribunal Judge, found that the errors with bundles at a First-Tier Tribunal led to unfairness and amounted to a an error of law. “There were, as…
A QUICK POST ABOUT BUNDLES: THIS WAS “ALMOST UNUSABLE”: “THE INDEX MUST IDENTIFY THE DOCUMENTS CONTAINED”
There is an interesting postscript to the judgment of Judge Anthony Snelson in the case of Soor v Luton Borough Council [2025] UKFTT 259 (GRC). It relates to bundles… … the bundle produced by the Council (over 600 pages long)…
“THIS CASE …HAS COME BEFORE THIS COURT IN SUCH A DISORDERED AND CHAOTIC STATE THAT IT IS SIMPLY IMPOSSIBLE TO PROCEED IN A FAIR WAY
In T v T & Ors (Disregard for Procedural Rules, Adjournment) [2025] EWFC 14 (B) Recorder Chandler KC set out a large number of matters on which the applicant had failed to comply with the rules. It is a judgment…
BUNDLES: THE VIEW FROM THE BENCH: “DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT IS CENTRAL TO WHAT WE DO”
As (possibly) the last post on bundles this year I am inviting you all to read an extract from Mr Justice Fordham’s speech to the Hart Judicial Review Conference. The full text of the speech is available here and it…
PROMOTING THE ART AND SCIENCE OF THE HUMBLE COURT BUNDLE: A “LITIGATOR’S SURVIVAL GUIDE”: WEBINAR 4th DECEMBER 2024
The problems that courts have with bundles have always been a prominent part of this blog. A post about bundles, “Sedley’s Laws” and how to prepare a bundle was the most read post on the blog for four years. However…
BUNDLES PREPARED IN A CHAOTIC MANNER: CHRONOLOGICAL IS BEST: COMMENTS FROM THE HIGH COURT
There are over a hundred posts on this blog about the subject of bundles. Problems occur everywhere, from the Supreme Court to the Employment Tribunal. We see another example in the judgment of Mr Justice Ritchie in Mok v Fitzmaurice…
PREPARING TRIAL AND APPLICATION BUNDLES: A LITIGATOR’S SURVIVAL GUIDE: WEBINAR 4th DECEMBER 2024
The previous post on Serra -v- Harvey [2024] EWHC 2250 (KB) has led to me finalising a (long-prepared) webinar on bundles. In Serra wasted costs were ordered on an indemnity basis against the claimant’s solicitors because the lateness and condition of the trial bundles. The bundles…
LATE AND “HAPHAZARD” SERVICE OF TRIAL BUNDLES LEADS TO WASTED COSTS ORDER AGAINST CLAIMANT’S SOLICITORS (ON THE INDEMNITY BASIS)
There are numerous cases on this blog about trial bundles. The issues never seem to end and have not been solved by the advent of the electronic bundle. This can be seen in the judgment of Deputy High Court Judge…
A TRIAL BUNDLE THAT WAS A “CHAOTIC MESS”; NON COMPLIANT WITNESS STATEMENTS AND EXPERT REPORTS AND “PROCEDURAL TRENCH WARFARE”
There are interesting procedural aspects in the judgment of Simon Gleeson in Carl v Hawkins & Ors [2024] EWHC 2186 (Ch). The case, about historic sports cars, involved (among other things) “procedural trench warfare”; highly defective bundles; non-compliant witness statements;…
“AN UNWIELDLY COLLECTION OF COURT DOCUMENTS”: A JUDGMENT THAT ENDS THE “BUNDLE DROUGHT”
It has been six months since this blog featured a complaint about trial bundles. That barren period is ended by some observations of Costs Judge Leonard in Griffin v Kleyman & Co Solicitors Ltd *[2024] EWHC 1151 (SCCO). The bundle…
“A COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE WAY OF PREPARING FOR AN IMPORTANT HEARING”: NON-COMPLIANT AND INCOMPLETE BUNDLES: WITNESS STATEMENTS IMPROPERLY PREPARED
The judgment of HHJ Pearce in Shobeiry v Patel [2023] EWHC 2549 (KB) shows how failing to comply with the rules can lead to major problems in relation to hearings. Here there was non-compliance with the rules relating to bundles,…
DELAYS, ADJOURNMENTS AND THE SIZE OF THE TRIAL BUNDLE: NOT JUST AN ACADEMIC PROBLEM: ELECTRONIC BUNDLES DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN JUST THROW EVERYTHING IN
The judgment of Mr Justice Constable in Innovate Pharmaceuticals Ltd v University of Portsmouth Higher Education Corporation [2023] EWHC 2394 (TCC) contains another interesting insight into the preparation of trial bundles and how that, in itself, can become highly contentious. …
“E-MAIL EXCHANGES COULD BE 2,000 OR 4,000 PAGES APART”: A JUDGMENT ABOUT BUNDLES (WHERE YOU CAN SEE SOME FAIRLY GRUMPY CORRESPONDENCE)
In Bailey -v- Stonewall Equality Ltd, Garden Court Chambers & others the Employment Tribunal awarded £20,000 costs against the respondents (in what is normally a no- costs regime) because of the chaotic way that the application bundle had been presented. …
THE DANGERS OF ACCIDENTALLY DISCLOSING WITHOUT PREJUDICE OFFERS: THE TRIAL JUDGE WAS “HANDED A BOOBY-TRAPPED BUNDLE”
The judgment of Sir Jonathan Cohen in Koukash v Koukash [2022] EWHC 1001 (Fam) underlines the importance of keeping without prejudice offers out of the sight of the trial judge. A finding in a family case was overturned because one…
THE KING’S BENCH DIVISION GUIDE: THE NEW BITS (2): NAVIGATING THE PDF (OR NOT QUITE PRACTISING WHAT IS BEING PREACHED…))
One interesting thing about the new King’s Bench Division Guide is the anomaly that the page numbers it refers to in the index are not the page numbers on the PDF copy. Basically you have to add 12 to the…
HEARING AND TRIAL BUNDLES: ARE THE COSTS OF PREPARATION RECOVERABLE? WELL, YES THEY ARE (IN PART)
There was some discussion on Twitter earlier this evening as to whether the cost of preparing bundles is recoverable at all. Since we have not had a case featuring a judicial complaint about bundles for several months* and “bundle cases”…
SEDLEY’S LAWS IN THE MODERN AGE: ELECTRONIC BUNDLES “SOME OF THE PAGES MUST APPEAR UPSIDE DOWN, PREFERABLY AT SPORADIC INTERVALS”
The post yesterday on Sedley’s Laws of documents led to me to consider how this should be applied in the modern age. More specifically to electronic bundles. These musings led to contributions from the lawyers of Twitter. We clearly have…
BUNDLES: SEDLEY’S LAW REVISITED: HAS MUCH CHANGED OVER THE PAST NINE YEARS?
Nine years after it was first published I am re-visiting a very early post on this blog. Regular readers will know that the issue of trial and hearing bundles have featured regularly over the intervening period. It is not uncommon…
RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS REFUSED: TRIAL BUNDLES, LATE WITNESS STATEMENTS AND LATE DISCLOSURE: CASES NEED TO BE PREPARED PROPERLY
I am grateful to my colleague Eleanor Temple for sending me a copy of the decision of HHJ-Davis-White KC in the case of Ball -v- Ball (11th October 2022), a copy of the judgment is available here Ball v Ball…
APPEALS: POINTS OF LAW AND BUNDLES: LITIGANTS SHOWN THE YELLOW CARD: YOU CAN READ THE RULES HERE
In Banks v Blount [2022] EWHC 1491 (QB) Mr Justice Ritchie was critical of an appellant for failing to comply with two basic elements of the practice directions relating to appeals. The need for clarity and precision when referring to…
WHEN THE COURT LOOKS AT THE MERITS OF THE CASE IN A RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS APPLICATION: A RARE,BUT IMPORTANT, DEVELOPMENT
In Rapid Displays Inc & Anor v Ahkye & Anor [2022] EWHC 274 (Comm) HHJ Pearce (sitting as a judge of the High Court) refused the defendants’ application for relief from sanctions. That application was heard alongside the claimant’s application…
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION GUIDE 2022: LINK AND BUNDLES
The new Queen’s Bench Division Guide was published yesterday and is available here. THE CHANGES “Changes in the guide include: Interim and out of hours applications Urgent and Short Applications before the Masters Electronic bundles The procedure for issuing…
GLUTS AND BUNDLES: LOTS OF AUTHORITIES DON’T HELP: “THIS MUST NOT BE REPEATED IN ANY FUTURE COUNTY COURT TRIAL”
I am sure that our eminent housing bloggers and commentators will write about the important substantive judgment in the case of Rosebery Housing Association Ltd v Williams & Anor [2021] EW Misc 22 (CC). However this blog deals with only one…
“WHAT IS THE POINT OF HANDLING A CASE FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS AND THEN FAILING TO PRESENT IT WELL TO THE COURT?”
This may be one of the few blogs that has a category “Trial Bundles”, with dozens of posts on this topic. It remains one of the most searched and read subjects on this site. Here I am revisiting a useful…
MORE GUIDANCE ON E-BUNDLES (FROM THE FAMILY COURT): “NO PAGE SHOULD APPEAR UPSIDE DOWN”
The President of the Family Division has issued guidance on E-Bundles Sup-guidance-E-bundles. Many of the points made here can provide guidance to civil practitioners. “No page should appear upside down.” GUIDANCE ON E-BUNDLES FOR USE IN THE FAMILY COURT AND…
“IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE ORAL ADVOCACY TO REDUCE WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO LITTLE MORE THAN A SERIES OF REFERENCES THAT A JUDGE CAN THEN LEFT TO FIND ACROSS A VAST BUNDLE”
The closing lines of the judgment of HHJ Pelling QC (sitting as a High Court judge) in Libyan Investment Authority v Credit Suisse International & Ors [2021] EWHC 2684 (Comm) highlight many issues in relation to civil advocacy. In particular…
NEW TODAY: GENERAL GUIDANCE ON ELECTRONIC COURT BUNDLES (PAGINATION SHOULD START FROM PAGE ONE…)
The Courts and Tribunal Judiciary Site has today published new guidance in relation to electronic bundles. The link is available here. The guidance updated and replaces previous guidance. If I were to highlight one matter it is the need for…
“ONE PAGE OUT” (BUT SOMETIMES MORE): ELECTRONIC BUNDLES GENERATE DIFFICULTIES- FAILURES COULD LEAD TO SANCTIONS
In Hodgson v Creation Consumer Finance Ltd [2021] EWHC 2167 (Comm) (29 July 2021) HHJ Pearce, sitting as a High Court Judge, made some observations about the problems caused by the pagination of electronic bundles. We have the familar problem…
THE COPYING OF TRIAL BUNDLES: WHO PAYS THE PRICE?
In the judgment today in Axnoller Events Ltd v Brake & Anor [2021] EWHC 1706 (Ch) HHJ Matthews (sitting as a High Court Judge) had to determine an issue in relation to who pays the costs of copying a trial…
BUNDLES IN PART 8 PROCEEDINGS: THE RELEVANT DOCUMENTS CHRONOLOGICALLY AND IN CATEGORIES
Issues relating to bundles are a regular theme on this blog. There is a short postscript to the judgment of Master Clark in Hudman v Morris [2021] EWHC 1400 (Ch), where observations were made following a Part 8 hearing relating…
GUIDANCE AS TO BUNDLES FROM THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT: THE PDF PAGE SHOULD MATCH THE BUNDLE PAGE (SOMETHING THAT SEEMS TO BE QUITE RARE IN PRACTICE)
The Practice Direction on Administrative Court Bundle Guidance is available here. One thing it notes (and this appears to be a widespread issue for many e-bundles) is the need for the index to be counted in the page numbering. In…
A LOT ABOUT LITIGATION CONDUCT HERE: SIGNATURE OF THE STATEMENT OF TRUTH: POOR BUNDLES: POOR WITNESS STATEMENTS AND THE TOTAL LACK OF WISDOM IN SENDING MATERIAL DIRECTLY TO THE JUDGE IN THE MIDDLE OF A TRIAL…
The judgment of Mr Justice Fraser in Beattie Passive Norse Ltd & Anor v Canham Consulting Ltd [2021] EWHC 1116 (TCC) demonstrate some “unusual” conduct in litigation. Not least the claimant’s solicitors wrote to the judge, in the middle of…
BUNDLES AGAIN: JUDGES WASTING THEIR BREATH: “HOW MANY YEARS – DECADES – HAVE TO PASS BEFORE THOSE WHO KNOW BETTER AND WHO… ARE BEING HANDSOMELY REMUNERATED COMPLY WITH THEIR OBLIGATIONS?”
Another post that adds to the dozens, if not hundreds, of cases about bundles. The trial bundles were the subject of considerable criticism by Sir James Munby in C (A Child) [2021] EWFC 32. “I forebear from further judicial exhortation…
SEDLEY’S LAW GOES ONLINE… : “IT IS NECESSARY FOR ME TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE UNSATISFACTORY MANNER IN WHICH BUNDLES OF DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN PREPARED FOR TRIAL”
If you thought that electronic bundles were the panacea that was going to put an end to the numerous posts on this blog recording (largely) judicial criticisms of bundles, think again. The judgment today of HHJ Cawson QC, sitting as…
ELECTRONIC BUNDLES AND PROBLEMS AT TRIAL: IF PAGES ARE ADDED IT IS NOT PLAIN SAILING
Readers have been waiting, with anticipation, for cases about electronic bundles. The judgment of HHJ Pearce in Global Technologies Racing Ltd v 5 West (t/a Alex Thomson Racing) [2020] EWHC 3334 (Comm) shows the problems that can occur in relation…
YOU CAN TEACH AN OLD JUDGE NEW TRICKS: TECHNOLOGY “EMBRACE IT: IT WILL MAKE YOUR JOB EASIER”
In S (Fact-Finding) [2020] EWFC 71 HHJ Jack sitting as a High Court Judge heard a case remotely. I will leave the analysis of his robust findings in the case – where the children were returned to their parents – …
THOUSANDS OF DOCUMENTS AND LEAVING SOME POINTS ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR: THE JUDGE’S LAMENT
In Município De Mariana & Ors v BHP Group Plc & Anor [2020] EWHC 2930 (TCC) Mr Justice Turner allowed the defendants’ application to strike out the claim being brought by 202,600 claimants. Here we look at the observations in relation…
THE DANGERS OF LAWYERS WORKING WHILST TRAVELLING: TOP TEN TIPS (& A BONUS) TO KEEP YOU ON THE RAILS
Todays top 10 tips follows on from yesterday. In the previous post PJ Kirby recorded how he was able to draft a letter that included: “We acknowledge receipt of your letter which was expected as Mr X was discussing the…
GENERAL GUIDANCE ON PDF BUNDLES FOR HEARINGS IN COURTS: GUIDANCE ISSUED TODAY
Mr Justice Mann has issued the following guidance on PDF bundles today. It provides practical guidance as to the matters that should be included in bundles, including the need for optical recognition, the need for the documents to be in…
COVID REPEATS 20: CIVIL LITIGATION BRIEF 26 YEARS AGO: PROCEDURAL DEVELOPMENT IN 1994
Six years ago I reviewed the annual output of Civil Litigation Brief in 1994 so, in essence, this is a repeat of a repeat. There were no “blogs” back. Twenty six ago CLB was a monthly column in the Solicitors…
AN ELECTRONIC BUNDLE SHOULD BE CONFINED TO “ESSENTIAL” DOCUMENTS: IT HELPS IF COUNSEL HAS A SAY IN ITS PREPARATION: IMPORTANCE GUIDANCE FROM THE HIGH COURT
In the judgment given this morning in Tailby , Re TPS Investments (UK) Ltd [2020] EWHC 1135 (Ch) HHJ Cox QC (sitting as a High Court Judge) gave some importance guidance in relation to the preparation and presentation of an…
COVID REPEATS 17: SEDLEY’S LAW OF DOCUMENTS
It was clearly his extensive experience with trial bundles that led Sedley L.J. to write “Sedley’s Laws of Documents”. These are laws that should be considered, in detail, by every litigator. For many, many years, a post I wrote on…
MORE USEFUL GUIDANCE ON BUNDLES AND VIRTUAL HEARINGS
Caselines has kindly sent me details of their very useful “COVID-19 Resource Hub” TOPICS COVERED Pandemics, Privacy, and Confidential Data Security: Managing Information Risk is Critical Video: Introduction to a CaseLines Bundle Quick Reference Guide: From Invite to…
Video: Creating and using electronic hearing bundles: St Philips Chambers
St Philips Chambers have kindly sent me a link to their video “Creating and using electronic hearing bundles” available here. The video explains how to create and use an electronic trial or hearing bundle using Adobe Acrobat Pro.
EBUNDLING: VERY USEFUL STEP BY STEP GUIDE
James M Turner QC has prepared an EBundling Guide to help advocates and other deal with the issue of preparing bundles. This is a task we may all have to come to terms with in the very near future. The…
E BUNDLES: GUIDANCE FROM THE FINANCIAL REMEDIES COURT
The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary site has an “e-bundles protocol”. Since this is a sign of things to come it would benefit all practitioners to read it. THE GUIDANCE 4. Where an e-bundle is to be used the following technical…
2019 AND CIVIL PROCEDURE – A ROUND UP OF THE ROUND UPS: WHAT TO FRET ABOUT AND WHAT NOT TO FRET ABOUT…
There have been a series of annual reviews on key topics throughout December. To round off the year it seemed a good idea to provide a reminder of them all and put the links in one place 2019 AND CIVIL…