When there is a problem which becomes a legal dispute, the civil court or other civil tribunal, if matters get that far, will decide the dispute based on the evidence. One category of evidence is the evidence of witnesses who tell the tribunal what they remember. There is also documentary evidence which includes things such as emails, letters and photos as well as formal documents like deeds and contracts.
It is important to keep track of where the documents you have came from. There are three main reason for this. First, there is the question of provenance. If you made a handwritten note of some event which you saw with your own eyes, at the time, and have kept it, unaltered, ever since, for example, that is rather different from some note produced years after the event by someone else.
Secondly, in some legal proceedings, the relevant issues to be determined by the tribunal include not only what actually happened in the past but also what you (or the other party) knew (or should have known) or what you believed, at particular points in time in the past. Because of this when a document first came into your hands can be important. Is it a document you have had for some time or did you obtain it, or was it sent to you, recently?
Thirdly there is the question of the date a document was created. If you obtain an official copy of a document filed in an official public register such as Companies House, or a council's register of planning applications, you know that the document which it is a copy of must have been created on a date not later than the date of filing, which is some confirmation of any date which the document itself may bear.
What NOT to do - EXAMPLE 1
15 years ago you bought a house. You have kept the estate agents details, and letters and documents which your conveyancing solicitor sent you at the time, in a cardboard file. The house is an old house and the people you bought the house from also gave you, at the time, some old maps, plans and documents which were of historical interest, and you put these in the same cardboard file. Three weeks ago a query, which turned into a dispute, arose with your neighbour who claimed that part of what you had always thought of as your garden was in fact part of their registered title. During discussions with them, they gave you copies of some old documents and you filed them away in the same cardboard file. You then started to do your own research, getting historical documents from the Land Registry and other public sources, and from other neighbours, which you also stored in the same same cardboard file. A week later your neighbour's solicitors wrote to you about the dispute enclosing copies of historical documents, and you filed their letter in the cardboard file. You also filed the documents enclosed with their letter separately in the cardboard file. A month later, thinking about the dispute, you decided to go through the cardboard file and sort the various documents into chronological order.
Formal legal proceedings have now been started and it turns out that one of the issues in the case is whether you believed (at least until recently) that you owned the disputed land and whether, if you did, your belief was a reasonable belief in the circumstances at the time. Because it is now clear that what documents you saw when you bought the house are important - because relevant to your belief and the reasonableness of it - you look through the cardboard file to find the documents you were given when you bought the house. But you can't work out which they were. You pick up a conveyance and ask yourself: was that one of the documents you were given originally or did you obtain that from your recent research, or was it one of the documents which your neighbours' solicitor sent you recently, or a copy your neighbours gave you when you met them recently?
What NOT to do - EXAMPLE 2
You have been buying services from a supplier for over 10 years and you have a file for that supplier. It contains letters, brochures, purchase orders, invoices, statements, agreements, and a number of versions of the supplier's term and conditions. About 6 months ago a dispute arose about the quality of the services provided in the past and you have been withholding payment. You tried, unsuccessfully, to come to some resolution by phone, and you have now received a letter from the supplier setting out their position. Enclosed with that letter are a number of documents. You reply to the letter and put your reply, together with their letter, and separately the documents enclosed with it, in the file. Eventually you get a letter from the supplier's solicitor also enclosing some documents. Again you reply to the letter and put everything in the file for the supplier. A month later, thinking about the dispute, you decide to go through the file, sorting the various documents into chronological order.
Legal proceedings have now been started and it turns out that one of the issues in the case is whether you had received version 11.6 of the supplier's terms and conditions (dated 10th April 2020) before you sent a purchase order to them on 1st August 2020. You look through the file for the supplier and there is a single copy of the version 11.6 terms and conditions there but when did you receive it? Has it been in the file for a while or was it one of the documents sent to you recently by the supplier or by their solicitor?
Going forward, you should:-
Create an email folder in your email system named e.g. re Right of Way Dispute - Documents and corr sent and received from [date] onwards
From that date onwards every time you obtain or receive documents you should store them in your email system in a way which records where they came from and when you received/obtained them:-
When you receive a letter in the post, scan it in as a PDF the same day, or as soon as you can, and send it as an email attachment to yourself with a Subject of e.g. Letter dated 20-10-2025 received by post today so that if, in the future, you need to check, you have a record in your email system of when, and in what circumstances, you received the document - in this case a letter. Move the sent email to the re Right of Way Dispute - Documents and corr sent and received from [date] onwards folder. Use one email per envelope received, so if you received two items of post, scan in the letter and any enclosures from the first envelope and attach them to one email and send it to yourself, then scan in the letter and any enclosures from the second envelope and attach them to a second email and send that to yourself. When you scan in a letter save it as a PDF named e.g. 2025-10-20 Letter John Smith to Phillip Jones.pdf (assuming you are Phillip Jones). Many people will instinctively want to name a letter received as e.g. Letter from John Smith.pdf but it is better if you include the names of both sender and recipient to save time later on should you eventually be involved in litigation. If there are one or more enclosures with a letter, scan each enclosure in as a separate PDF giving it the same name as the letter but adding Enc1, Enc2, etc. For example:
2025-10-20 Letter John Smith to Phillip Jones.pdf
2025-10-20 Letter John Smith to Phillip Jones Enc1.pdf
2025-10-20 Letter John Smith to Phillip Jones Enc2.pdf
Attach to the email you send to yourself the letter PDF and each enclosure PDF. Once you have done the above, you should physically store the papers in the envelope they came in, but scanning them in, and emailing them to yourself, means that you can refer in future to the scanned copies and should not normally need to take the physical papers out so that there is less chance of them being misplaced.
If you go away for a few days and return to find post waiting for you, do the same as above but use a Subject of e.g. Letter dated 20-10-2025 delivered between 18-10-2025 and 23-10-2025
If papers are simply handed to you scan them in as PDFs the same day and send them as email attachments to yourself with a Subject of e.g. Handed to me by Mr Smith today on my doorstep so that if, in the future, you need to check, you have a record in your email system of when, and in what circumstances, you received the documents. Move the sent email to the re Right of Way Dispute - Documents and corr sent and received from [date] onwards folder.
For things received by email, simply move the email to the re Right of Way Dispute - Documents and corr sent and received from [date] onwards folder.
If you obtain documents electronically from an official website such as from the Land Registry or Companies House - or from a publicly available privately run source of historical documents such as Google Earth - ideally, if you have the option, you should get the website to send the documents to you as email attachments so that you have an email documenting when you obtained them and from where. Move the email to the re Right of Way Dispute - Documents and corr sent and received from [date] onwards folder. This applies particularly in the case of private sources where may be no guarantee that a particular document will always be available. For example Google Earth only provides one image for each time period - as Google acquire more historical images the image available for a particular time period may be replaced by another image for the same period which, due to differences in lighting, angle, cloud cover, etc. might not show as clearly some detail the previously available image did.
If it is not possible or practical to get an official or private website to send the documents to you as email attachments - so that you have to download them instead - send an email to yourself with a Subject of e.g. Documents downloaded from Companies House on 20-10-2025 attaching the documents. Move the sent email to the re Right of Way Dispute - Documents and corr sent and received from [date] onwards folder
On the day when you decide to create the re Right of Way Dispute - Documents and corr sent and received from [date] onwards folder, and start using the above procedures, it might be that you have had some post in the previous week which you have opened and carefully kept, everything in its original envelope, and if you are sure you can remember the exact date that each item was received, you can do the above process for those items also, naming the Subject of each email appropriately e.g. Letter dated 20-10-2025 received by post on 21-10-2025. But don't attempt to retrospectively carry out the above procedure for items received longer ago. See instead the Existing Documents section below.
The above is mainly about how to handle documents and correspondence received but it is important also, when sending out, to do so in a way which is self-documenting.
In general it is more convenient to use email rather than paper. One reason for this is that if you send or receive a paper letter the recipient will need to scan it in as a PDF, probably as a matter or good housekeeping and, in any event, if it subsequently needs to be used in legal proceedings. Scanning takes time and reduces, to a degree, the quality of the image which is less than ideal particularly if the letter has an enclosure such as a copy of a photo. No scanning is necessary if you use email.
There may be particular circumstances which prompt you to use paper. For example you might not know the recipient's email address. Or you might be concerned that the recipient may deny receiving the email, or say that they didn't see it straight away because it went into their spam folder, so that you feel it would be prudent to send it by post using a "signed for" service, or at least send it by post with proof of posting. Or you might wish to hand-deliver. There are pros and cons: for example if you send "signed for" the recipient might refuse delivery so sometimes in these circumstances people send two copies - one by a "signed for" service and another by means which is prompt and reliable but which doesn't require signature. But, absent such circumstances, email is usually the better option.
You might be involved in some formal process the rules of which oblige you to send in paper form but otherwise email is usually better.
Where there is a particular reason to send in paper form it is good practice to send by email as well if you know the recipient's email address.
The convention is that at the top of a letter is the name and address of the sender. The address should always include the full physical address with postcode. If the letter is to be sent by email (or, even if not, if the sender wishes to receive a response by email) the sender's email address should also be given.
Below that and towards the left, is the name and address of the recipient.
There might be more than one recipient if exactly the same letter is to be sent to more than one person (for example the joint owners of property) in which case the names and addresses of the recipients are set out one under the other. If the letter is to be copied to someone rather than being addressed to them - e.g. if the letter is not primarily to them but you just want them to know what it says - then you should add COPY TO in front of their name and add TO in front of the other recipients' names.
If you are sending the letter by email to a recipient then you should set out that recipient's email address to which it is sent. If you are sending the letter in paper form then you set out the recipient's full postal address including postcode. It is common to set out a postal address as well as an email address even if you are only sending by email but it is essential that it is clear on the face of the letter how it is being sent so put BY FIRST CLASS POST or BY FIRST CLASS POST AND EMAIL or BY EMAIL ONLY, or BY HAND etc.
If the letter is a reply, it should start by identifying what it is replying to - e.g. "Thank you for your letter dated..." or, if "thank you" seems inappropriate given the content of the letter received, then perhaps "I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated..."
It is important that the letter itself should contain all email and/or physical address information - i.e. the sender's address should appear at the top of the letter below the sender's name, and the recipient's address should appear below the recipient's name - so that normally it is not necessary for a copy of the email and/or envelope itself to be included in any tribunal hearing bundle, which letter might later appear in, as the letter itself shows who sent the letter by email to whom and when.
Typically a letter will be composed using word-processing software such as Microsoft Word. When you are ready to send the letter out you would:
Check that the date on it is today's date. If not update the date in the Word file.
Print out the Word file and sign.
Scan the signed letter in as a PDF
If you will be enclosing with the letter a formal document which you have just signed, scan in the signed formal document as a PDF
Send an email with the letter PDF, and any enclosures, attached, to those recipients who are to receive it by email. The email message will simply be "Please see attached letter". Remember to put any refence number in the Subject - as well as in the letter itself - so that if it is being sent to an organisation the person who initially receives it can direct it efficiently to the appropriate person within the organisation. If no recipients are to receive the letter by email you should still send the email but send it just to yourself with a Subject of e.g. Letter posted today to... so that a copy is stored in your email system. Move the sent email to the re Right of Way Dispute - Documents and corr sent and received from [date] onwards folder in your email system.
If the letter is to be sent to a recipient in paper form, put the signed letter and any enclosures in an envelope, write the address on it (which must be exactly the same as the recipient address shown in the letter itself) and promptly post it or hand deliver it. If it is hand-delivered write "BY HAND" on the envelope.
Note that it is important to send an email to yourself as described above if you are sending the letter out only in paper form. There may be several drafts of a letter so it is important to retain a copy of the letter as sent out which clearly is a copy of the letter as sent out in its final form and is clearly not just an earlier draft. If you only keep the Word file and/or keep a printout of the Word file you may be uncertain, or have difficulty proving, that what you have kept is an exact copy of what was sent out, rather than a draft, but if you actually scan in the signed letter as a PDF just before you put it in the envelope and send it, and keep the PDF by emailing it to yourself, then you will know, looking back later, that the PDF copy of the signed letter is a true copy of the actual letter set out.
When a matter becomes a "dispute" or at least a problem - whether or not legal proceedings are yet contemplated - you may start to research the existing documents you have accumulated. You may have paper documents in a folder labelled - e.g. Mr Jones - in your physical filing cabinet and you might scan some of them in as PDFs so that you can send them to a lawyer for advice, or perhaps just so that you yourself can more easily search them for keywords.
And you might have documents which are already computer files located in various folders on your computer and/or on your mobile devices and you might copy them into new folders on your computer so that you can more easily look at them together, at some point perhaps renaming the filenames of the copies to have concise descriptive names commencing with the date in yyyy-mm-dd format so that they are in chronological order.
It is important that you store such copies in sets of folders which are clearly named to indicate what they are so that you do not later get confused between, on the one hand, documents which you created/stored in various folders on your computer in the ordinary course of events in the past (which remain in their original locations), and, on the other hand, various copies of those documents which you have made, collected together in bulk, and at some point renamed as part of doing some concerted research, or as part of a litigation process itself such as at the “disclosure of documents” stage of litigation.
So you should create a high-level folder on your main computer to so that you can keep the copies you create for research etc. separate from the other documents there may be on your computer. You could name the high-level folder e.g., depending what the dispute is about, Copy documents re Right of Way Dispute 2026.
At the second level, within the high level folder, you create a folder for each of the sets of copy documents which you will be creating for various purposes as follows:
General backup of mobile devices folder
Initial copies of documents folder (with sub-folders according to original document location)
Copies of documents renamed with concise names
One or more working folders, as required for the case, in which copy documents are organised chronologically or in some other useful order
Copy documents as disclosed to the other side with concise names
Copy documents disclosed by the other side
All disclosed documents with concise names
What each of the above second-level folders will contain is explained in more detail below.
General backup of mobile devices folder
You will probably first be taking backup copies of data on your mobile devices as a precaution against accidental loss, so within this folder create sub-folders to contain backups from each mobile device. Usually the amount of data stored on a mobile device is limited so that it is feasible to simply backup all photos and other documents without having, at this stage, to selectively check individual documents for relevance (though you might need to selectively back up text messages which are not in ordinary files). Here is an example:
Backup of John Smith's Galaxy A37 phone
Backup of Peter Jones' iPhone 17
When copying JPG photos from a phone it is important that the JPGs are transferred within a ZIP file to avoid metadata loss during transfer.
Having carried out a blanket backup of all data on mobile devices as a precaution, your next steps will probably be to copy selected documents of interest from those mobile device backups, and from your computer itself, and probably scan in some paper documents as PDFs, and download some emails, and these would be stored in the following second-level folder:
Initial Copies of Documents folder
Within the Initial Copies of Documents folder, create a sub-folder for each location from which you are copying relevant files – so each of the above locations, plus locations on your computer itself, and physical locations containing paper documents - like this:
John Smith's Galaxy A37 phone
Peter Jones' iPhone 17
'Mr Jones' file in my filing cabinet
1973 extension project photo album
Box of papers in the attic labelled "house purchase”
Extension Drawings folder on main computer
Emails between Smith and Jones
A "location" generally means a physical location, for example, a particular phone, or a physical photo album. If you have physical documents organised in labelled folders, then, instead of simply using "my filing cabinet" as the name of the location, it is useful to treat each labelled folder which contains possibly relevant documents as a "location" - e.g. 'Mr Jones' file in my filing cabinet. In the case of documents from a phone it might be useful to distinguish specific subset of documents - e.g. John Smith's Galaxy A37 phone - photos and John Smith's Galaxy A37 phone - screenshots of text messages to/from Mr Jones
Scan in each physical document as a separate PDF giving it a suitable name such as 2021-05-19 Letter Smith to Jones.pdf and, after scanning, put the physical documents back exactly where they came from. For example if you have an envelope containing a letter together with documents enclosed with that letter, put them back in the envelope and put the envelope back where it came from. Take care to preserve original documents.
Copy electronic documents - e.g. files on your computer, tablet, digital camera SDcard, mobile phone, USB stick, cloud storage etc. without renaming them and make sure you always "copy" files so that the original remains in situ - do not "move" them.
If copying JPG photos direct from a phone it is important that the JPGs are transferred within a ZIP file to avoid metadata loss during transfer. But you will probably be copying any JPGs not direct from a phone but from the General backup of mobile devices folder.
When you first start to review documents, initially you will probably be looking at a limited number of documents selected from various locations. Later on you may look for further documents in those or other locations. One reason for storing copies of documents in sub-folders (within the Initial Copies of Documents folder) according to the location which they came from is to save you time later on when you are copying further documents from the same location. For example if you are scanning further documents in the Box of papers from the attic labelled "house purchase" you can check which documents from that location you already have PDF scans for in the relevant location sub-folder, so that you don't need to scan those particular documents again. If you get to the point where a sub-folder for a particular location within Initial Copies of Documents actually contains 100% of the documents from that location, you can add “(complete)” to the name of the sub-folder - e.g. Box of papers from the attic labelled "house purchase" (complete).
Another reason for storing by location is that sometimes where a document is stored may shed some light on when, and in what circumstances, the document was originally created by you or came into your possession. Knowing which location a document has come from may also give you a hint as to where other similar or related documents might be held, and the whole process of searching, over a period of time, for documents in various locations will give you a feel for what types of documents exist in different locations and how easy particular locations are to search. This information can be useful later for making representations if there is litigation and the tribunal is considering what directions to give for disclosure of documents. Keep a record of information as you proceed to find and copy documents.
Copies of documents renamed with concise names
Copy each document of interest from the Initial Copies of Documents folder to the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder and rename them within the latter folder to a standardised concise format starting with the date in yyyy-mm-dd format, such as 2024-10-15 Letter Smith to Jones.pdf
Often there will be no sub-folders within the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder so that all documents will be arranged in simple chronological sequence but there may be a few types of documents which you would naturally group together so you might choose to have, for example, within the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder, all photos in a sub-folder named Photos and all other documents in a sub-folder named Other Documents.
It is important that the date appears in the filename of each document within the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder, not only so that the documents appear in chronological order, but also so that, if you decide to copy further documents from the Initial Copies of Documents folder you can easily check, using the date, whether a particular document has already been copied to the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder.
Every time you decide to copy a further document from its original source location, you should first copy it to the appropriate sub-folder within Initial Copies of Documents before then copying it to the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder.
One or more working folders, as required for the case, in which copy documents are organised chronologically or in some other useful order
You may be creating further second-level folders containing subsets of documents for various purposes. Every time you decide to copy a a further document from its original source location, you should first copy it to the appropriate sub-folder within Initial Copies of Documents before copying it to the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder and renaming it, and only then copy it from the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder into one or more working folders. If you later decide that you do not need a particular document to be in a working folder (for example because, on reflection, you decide that it is not relevant) you should still retain the copy in the Initial Copies of Documents folder and Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder, in case it should be needed after all, at some time in the future and needs to be copied again (e.g. if there are developments which mean that it may be relevant after all).
Copy documents as disclosed to the other side with concise names folder
Although it depends, to a certain extent, on the type of legal proceedings, it is usual for parties to provide each other with copies of relevant documents at the following stages of litigation:-
1. During the pre-action correspondence phase (generally the providing of documents in this phase, before formal legal proceedings have actually commenced, is voluntary rather than being ordered by a court or other tribunal) or as part of a Land Registry application (which was subsequently referred to a tribunal).
2. At the initial Statements of Case stage of litigation when key documents may accompany each Statement of Case
3. At the main Disclosure of Documents stage of litigation when the remaining relevant documents are sent
4. Supplementary disclosure - occasionally a document is missed at stage 3 - so it is disclosed later when it comes to light
You should copy documents you need to disclose (at any of the above four stages) from the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder (and/or from a working folder) into the Copy documents as disclosed to the other side with concise names folder and modify their filenames in the latter folder to include the disclosure number with the date at the end e.g. R-22 Letter Smith to Jones 10-12-2025.pdf The reason for having the date at the end in dd-mm-yyyy format is that this format is easier for humans to read and, because you have the disclosure number at the start of the filename, you don't need the date at the start to ensure that the files appear in order in a folder. Every time you decide to copy a further document from its original source location for disclosure, you should first copy it to the appropriate sub-folder within Initial Copies of Documents before then copying it to the Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder, and only then copy it to the Copy documents as disclosed to the other side with concise names folder for disclosure.
It is important to keep track and not get into a "loop" whereby you start sending to the other side copies of documents which you never had originally and only have now because the other side previously sent them to you as part of their "disclosure of documents"! The risk of this arises particularly because of the several stages of disclosure which take place months apart, so that when you come to identify documents to disclose at stage 3, for example, you will have already received documents disclosed by the other side at stages 1 and 2.
Any document voluntarily disclosed to you by the other side during stage 1 would normally be sent again by the other side during stage 2 or stage 3. But occasionally this might not happen. One purpose of pre-action correspondence is to try to find out if the other side has any argument in their favour which might mean that they are likely to win on a matter in dispute. As a result of pre-action correspondence a party might decide to commence litigation only over one limited aspect in dispute and that might mean that they regard some documents voluntarily disclosed as no longer relevant given the more limited nature of the dispute. Hence although they sent a document voluntarily at stage 1, they might not formally disclose it again within the disclosure ordered by the tribunal at stages 2 and 3. But you might nevertheless take the view that the document still is relevant and so you want to disclose it, even if you did not have it originally, so that you can rely on it in the proceedings. In that case - if you are disclosing a document you did not originally have - you would include the document in your disclosure (generally at stage 4 because it is only then that you know that the other side is not going to formally disclose it at stage 3) but in such a way that it is clear that you only have a copy of the document because the other side sent it to you recently as part of the prelude to legal proceedings. The simplest way to make this clear is to disclose the document, together with the letter from the other side which enclosed it, all as one PDF.
Copy documents disclosed by the other side folder
You should store documents disclosed by the other side (at any of the above four disclosure stages), in whatever form they are, in the Copy documents disclosed by the other side folder. If the other side does not use a consistent format you might need to create four sub-folders within the Copy documents disclosed by the other side folder for documents disclosed at the four stages so that it is clear, looking back, what was disclosed when.
All disclosed documents with concise names folder
The All disclosed documents with concise names folder will eventually contain the complete set of documents disclosed by both sides - i.e. everything from the Copy documents as disclosed to the other side with concise names folder plus everything from the Copy documents disclosed by the other side folder but depending on the form in which the other side disclose documents it may be necessary to first copy files from the latter folder to a temporary folder for renaming before moving them into the All disclosed documents with concise names folder so that documents are all named in the All disclosed documents with concise names folder with consistent name formats e.g. R-22 Letter Smith to Jones 10-12-2025.pdf or A-23 Letter Smith to Jones 10-12-2025 etc.
Copying electronic documents
When copying relevant files on your computer, tablet, digital camera SDcard, mobile phone, USB stick, cloud storage etc. (known as “electronic documents”) make sure you always "copy" files so that the original remains in situ - do not "move" them.
Renaming documents
Don't rename the documents in the General backup of mobile devices folder and Initial copies of documents folder.
To rename documents in the Copies of documents renamed with concise names and other folders with renamed documents you can use the following methods:
Rename each document manually to have a concise name, or
Load documents to a document management system such as Bundledocs or Litigation Ready and then download them (or you could decide to load them and keep them in the document management system instead of using a Copies of documents renamed with concise names folder on your computer, so that you only need to download them later on), or
If you consult a barrister and send copies of documents with their original names to the barrister for an Opinion you may find that the barrister sends renamed copies of the documents back with their written Opinion.
Disclaimer
This information page is designed to be used only by clients of John Antell who have entered into an agreement for the provision of legal services. The information in it is necessarily of a general nature and will not be applicable to every case: it is intended to be used only in conjunction with more specific advice to the individual client about the individual case. This information page should not be used by, or relied on, by anyone else.
The information on this page about specific computer techniques is provided for information purposes only. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date at the time it was written but no responsibility for its accuracy, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by me. You should satisfy yourself, before using any of the techniques, software or services described, that the techniques are appropriate for your purposes and that the software or service is reliable.
This page was lasted updated in June 2026. Disclaimer