The complete step-by-step guide to creating a Final Hearing Bundle (Trial Bundle)
The complete step-by-step guide to creating a Final Hearing Bundle (Trial Bundle)
For a general explanation of what a Final Hearing Bundle (Trial Bundle) is see here.
The method explained below is an example of how to create a Final Hearing Bundle. For simplicity, it assumes that a copy of every statement, and of every document disclosed by either side, has already been loaded to your document management system (such as Bundledocs or Litigation Ready). Loading a copy of every disclosed document is convenient if the vast majority of documents are likely to be included in the eventual final hearing bundle, or if the total number of disclosed documents is, anyway, only in the low hundreds. If instead the number of disclosed documents is in the thousands and most will not be included then a different procedure may be more efficient.
Check Documents in your document management system
You will already have documents loaded to the document management system if you have used it at previous stages of the current litigation process such as for "disclosure of documents". Documents will typically have been loaded in stages - some documents at the statements of case stage at the beginning of the process, more documents at the disclosure of documents stage when each side sends the other copies of relevant documents in its possession, and then documents referred to as exhibits in witness statements may have been loaded at the later exchange of witness statements stage.
If you have not used the document management system before for the current litigation you will be loading documents to it for the first time now.
Document copies loaded should have their Date field filled in and the Name field should contain a concise name for the document. Each document should be in an appropriate folder named with the name of the section of the Bundle where the document is to appear.
All disclosed and exhibited documents should be loaded
It is useful to have loaded, ready for the bundle production process, all the documents which have been exchanged between the parties during the litigation process (but see below regarding inter-partes correspondence). There is always the possibility of the other side being inefficient and asking late in the bundle production process for documents to be included, when you are short of time. If you have already loaded a copy of every document which either side might legitimately want to have included in the final bundle, you will be able to deal with any late request quickly because:
A copy of the document requested will already be loaded - currently in a folder marked to be excluded from the Bundle - and all you have to do is move it to the appropriate "included" folder.
The fact that the document is already loaded indicates that you have already determined that it is a document which was exchanged between the parties and so the other side is entitled to have it included if they wish - so you don't have to take time to check back to confirm that it has previously been exchanged.
Note that instead of just asking for a specific document to be included the other side might actually send you a copy of the document to be included. In this case it is important to ensure that the other side is not attempting to have included documents they have not previously disclosed (the tribunal will normally direct that only documents previously disclosed can be included) so always check that copies of the documents provided are already loaded - even if you eventually end up using the copy just provided because it is clearer than the one already loaded.
Note also that there are some tribunals which require each party, at the main disclosure of documents stage, to initially provide only a numbered list of documents, and each party is then only required to provide copies of documents if the other side specifically asks for a document. If the case for which you are producing the bundle is in one of these tribunals you should have asked for copies of all documents on the other side's list at the disclosure of documents stage and loaded them (except for any items such as inter partes correspondence that you are sure you already have copies of). If you didn't do that at the time, you should do it now.
Digital photos
Check that the size of the image in each image-and-metadate "print" PDF which has been loaded is large enough. You can zoom in in the eBundle PDF but remember that it will eventually be printed and if it will be too small to see details clearly in hardcopy you need to also load a larger image. Images should generally be at least 9cm by 12 cm to be clearly seen. The image within the image-and-metadata print is still important, even if you are also loading a larger image separately, to show what image the metadata relates to, even though a larger image is also required.
Inter partes correspondence
The vast majority of inter-partes correspondence and correspondence with the tribunal will be about administrative matters occurring during the litigation process and will not be of any continuing relevance for the final hearing, but if any individual item of inter-partes correspondence should need to be included in the Final Hearing Bundle it can be loaded as and when the need for it is identified, if it is not already loaded. Likewise with many (but perhaps not all) documents created for interim applications by either party to the tribunal for matters such as seeking permission for the use of expert evidence, or seeking a temporary injunction to preserve the status quo pending the final hearing.
Start off by creating (if it does not already exist) a folder (section) in your document management system at the end of the list of folders named Duplicates with different references - EXCLUDE from final bundle. Also create another folder named Documents not currently proposed to be included in the Final Hearing Bundle. These folders are so named to remind you not to include them in the generated eBundle.
Then go through all documents in the other "included" folders and check whether or not they should remain included. You should include:
Each statement of case and every witness statement produced for the case
One copy of every document which is referred to in any statement of case or referred to in any witness statement - remembering, of course, when moving any duplicate to the Duplicates with different references - EXCLUDE from final bundle folder, to ensure that the exhibit mark or statement of case reference number of the duplicate copy is added to the copy which is to remain in the included folder
One copy of every other document which you wish to rely on - many documents may be relevant even though not referred to in any statement
If the other side have already (before you have had a chance to send out the first draft eBundle) sent you a list of documents they wish to be included, ensure that one copy of each of those documents remains in an included folder - if they haven't sent you a list, they will have a further opportunity to identify documents shortly (see below).
Move all other documents to the Documents not currently proposed to be included in the Final Hearing Bundle folder.
Video/Audio files
If, after you have decided which documents are and are not to remain included, there are any video or audio files remaining in an "included" section, check their Document Names. It is good for the filename and duration of the recording to be included in its Document Name so that when the audio/video file itself (e.g. the mp3 or mp4 file) comes to be forwarded from your document management system to the tribunal, along with the eBundle PDF itself, the filename of the mp3 or mp4 file (which will include the Document Name) will contain that identifying information.
Inter-Partes Correspondence
The vast majority of inter-partes correspondence and correspondence with the tribunal - even if technically admissible - will be about administrative matters occurring during the litigation process and will not be of any continuing relevance for the final hearing but occasionally there may be an individual item of correspondence which needs to be included. For example you might have written to the other side challenging the authenticity of a document they have disclosed, or at least querying the accuracy of its date, and so putting them on notice that they need to prove its provenance (preferably to you in advance if they can but otherwise at the final hearing). You will want to include any such correspondence. It might not already be loaded so you might need to load it. More likely, you have been routinely loading inter-partes correspondence, as it is sent and received, to a separate Inter-partes Correspondence - EXCLUDE from final bundle folder in which case you will need to make a copy of the correspondence concerned and move that copy to an included folder.
When you get to the agreed date to send out the first draft eBundle, how to do this is explained below. If it was agreed that the other side would first tell you what documents they wished to have included, and they have not done so by the deadline, you don't need to delay: they can tell you after they receive the first draft. Indeed receiving the first draft together with a list of Documents not currently proposed to be included in the Final Hearing Bundle should prompt them to respond.
The first unpaginated draft eBundle
Create a single page Word document named About this Bundle.doc containing, in large lettering, an explanation of the index similar to the following with a real example:
The index indicates the exhibit mark by which each document is referred to in various statements.
EXAMPLE: The same document is referred to, in various statements, as exhibit JJS12, as exhibit FBA9, as document 19 accompanying the Applicant's statement of case.
Then create and download a bundle using the standard Litigation Ready options or standard Bundledocs options, but without page numbering. When doing this:
exclude the Documents not currently proposed to be included in the Final Hearing Bundle folder
include all other folders (except of course the "Exclude from final bundle" folders which are never to be included such as the Duplicates with different references - EXCLUDE from final bundle folder and the Inter-partes Correspondence - EXCLUDE from final bundle folder)
select the "About this Bundle" document to be the page after the Index
Rename the downloaded PDF "DRAFT EBUNDLE".
Documents not Included
Next create and download a further PDF Bundle, without page numbering, including the Documents not currently proposed to be included in the Final Hearing Bundle folder and excluding all other folders so that they are excluded. Rename the downloaded PDF "PRELIMINARY LIST OF DOCUMENTS NOT TO BE INCLUDED".
Send the two PDFs
Do not grant the other side direct access to the "matter" within your document management system. Instead, send them the "DRAFT EBUNDLE" PDF and the "PRELIMINARY LIST OF DOCUMENTS NOT TO BE INCLUDED" PDF. When sending the two PDFs, invite the other side to indicate if there are any documents listed in the PRELIMINARY LIST OF DOCUMENTS NOT TO BE INCLUDED PDF which they wish to see included.
The directions given by the tribunal will probably state that eBundles are to be sent to the other parties "in such manner as may be agreed with the parties" or words to that effect. So you need to agree with the other side how the first draft eBundle PDF, and subsequent drafts, and eventually the final eBundle, are to be sent to them. Whilst documents in an eBundle may not actually be counted as being in the public domain (unless and until they are referred to at the public hearing) usually the documents you are contributing to the eBundle will not usually be sensitive or confidential and if the other side when, earlier on, they provided copies of their documents to you, used ordinary email, then it may be that they also do not require any highly secure system to be used to send the draft and final eBundles either, so it may be that the other side will agree that it is reasonable to use an ordinary web-based file transfer system to send drafts and the final eBundle. Usually web-based file transfer systems allow you to load a PDF and they then provide a download link which you can paste into an email you compose and send.
Note that it is possible that the directions given by the tribunal may require an initial draft Index to be formally "served" in the way that documents such as Statements of Case have to be formally "served". If service of the index in paper form is required you can print just the index pages from the DRAFT EBUNDLE PDF, and formally serve those by whatever method is required, at the same time as you send the full draft eBundle by other convenient means such as via a download link.
The usual rule is that the Final Hearing Bundle, eventually provided to the tribunal, and to both sides, in advance of the final hearing, must contain copies of all documents which the judge will be asked to consider during the hearing (apart from the skeleton argument document which each party's barrister normally provides separately later and any agreed summary documents which the tribunal has directed to be agreed and supplied separately). Some people think that they can bring along to the hearing and use copies of additional documentary evidence as well but in general tribunals do not allow this. All copies of documentary evidence to be referred to by either side at the hearing must be in the bundle. The tribunal directions might require each party to bring along original paper documents as well in case they need to be checked but you can't generally rely on an original document if a copy is not in the bundle. If a party discovers at the last minute that something has been accidentally missed out of the bundle then the tribunal might give special permission to use it but equally it might refuse or there might be a costs penalty so now is a good time, while you are waiting to hear from the other side, to take the opportunity to double-check that every piece of evidence you want to be available for the judge to look at at the hearing is in an "included" folder. If you realise there is an extra document you need, move it to an included folder and, at a convenient point, create another draft eBundle.
When you hear back from the other side, consider whether all the documents requested by the other side are actually relevant. Providing a document was previously sent between the parties during the litigation process in accordance with deadlines set by the tribunal, and providing it is not subject to legal privilege, you cannot generally refuse to include it, if the other side insists it should be included, even if you consider the document irrelevant to the issues to be decided at the hearing. But if there are a large number of apparently irrelevant documents which the other side asks to be included it is worth querying with them (in writing) why they think they are relevant. Your query may prompt them to reconsider. If they continue to insist on the documents being included (and you have no reason to object other than irrelevance) then generally they should be, but you should create a further "included" folder at the end named Selected Correspondence re Bundle Production and load to it a copy of the correspondence. Then if the judge, at the hearing, makes a criticism of the fact that a large number of irrelevant documents have been included in the bundle, and requires to know which party was responsible, it will be possible to show from the correspondence that they were only included at the insistence of the other party and that you did query it at the time. You should not wait too long for a reply after you have queried whether documents requested are really needed: you need to keep to the timetable you have set. If you do not get a quick reply, you can include the documents for the moment and carry on. Including the documents is not difficult to do - as the documents will already be loaded and it is just a matter of moving them to an "included" folder - and if the other side eventually say that some are not needed after all you can then move them back to the Documents not currently proposed to be included in the Final Hearing Bundle folder and generate another draft eBundle.
A party may legitimately object to the inclusion of a document sent between the parties which is subject to "without prejudice" privilege. It is unlikely that there will be a dispute about the principle that "without prejudice" documents should not be included but there might be a dispute about whether a particular document really is "without prejudice" or not, the presence or absence of the actual words "without prejudice" on the document not necessarily being conclusive.
Because of queries and issues such as these it is not uncommon for several draft unpaginated eBundles to be sent during the eBundle production process. You only need to send one PRELIMINARY LIST OF DOCUMENTS NOT TO BE INCLUDED PDF - at the outset - but there may be several DRAFT EBUNDLE PDFs sent.
Consider how document references will be handled
While you are waiting for the other side to respond to the initial eBundle, consider how, thinking ahead, you intend to arrange the eBundle so that users can easily turn to exhibits and other referred-to documents when reading through a document such as a witness statement which refers to them. There are a number of possibilities ranging from simply providing guidance (on the "About this Bundle" page immediately following the Index) about using a PDF Find function, to automatically hyperlinking references, and writing the page number of each document referred to in the right hand margin opposite each reference. There may be some mandatory directions given by the tribunal as to what you have to do as a minimum. Simply having document references in the names of documents is enough to enable the other side to check references when you send them the first draft bundle but thereafter, with subsequent drafts, you need to consider what further to do. Some measures may be one-off (e.g. writing instructions in the "About this Bundle" document which can then be selected every time an eBundle is generated) whereas others may have to be repeated (e.g. if you are using PDF software to automatically add hyperlinks directly to the generated eBundle PDF you need to remember to redo this every time there is a new version to be sent out).
Decide which sections will be in which hardcopy volumes
Thinking ahead, you should decide which sections are to be in which hardcopy volumes and to what extent the location of some documents - particularly documents to be printed on A3 paper - should be adjusted with hardcopies in mind. Your decisions will, to a certain extent, be influenced by how many documents there are in each section, so the best time to make a final decision would be after the other side has identified at least most of the documents they wish to have included, but still leaving sufficient time for you to arrange the documents and send a further draft unpaginated eBundle to the other side.
If you plan ahead and make contact with the other side in good time, the process of agreeing what should be in the Bundle will hopefully run smoothly, but if the other side, despite reminders, fail to tell you which documents they wish to see included you may be faced with a dilemma. You do not want to wait forever and risk not allowing yourself sufficient time to produce and deliver copies of the final eBundle (and any hardcopies) on time but, on the other hand, you do not want to be criticised by the tribunal, later on, for showing insufficient flexibility.
If you end up in the situation where the other side do not tell you what evidential documents they wish to see included, you may have to proceed with what you have but you should write to the other side explaining what you are doing and why - e.g.
On [date] I wrote to you proposing timescales for the process of producing the eBundle, and we agreed that by [date] you would tell me what [further] documents you wished to be included. But you have not done so despite my following up on [date] and [date] and, given the shortness of time, I must now proceed to finalise which documents will be in the eBundle. I have added every document referred to in your statement of case and the statements of your witnesses together with some other documents. That is the best I can do in the circumstances. Please see the final draft index attached to this email. The full final draft eBundle can be downloaded using this link...
Before creating the final draft eBundle to be sent with the a communication such as the above, create a further folder (if you have not already done so) named Selected Correspondence re Bundle Production and load the communication to it. Also load to that folder a copy of your initial communication (in which you first proposed a timetable) and a copy of your follow up communications showing the steps leading up to the point where you had to make less than ideal decisions. If there are a lot of communications relating to the detail of eBundle production you don't necessarily need to include them all but you should include sufficient to demonstrate that you gave the other side ample opportunity to co-operate, that they failed to "play ball", and that your eventual decision to proceed to finalise the eBundle was reasonable in the circumstances. To complete the picture you should include copies of the orders/directions given by the tribunal relating to eBundle production (if they are not already included elsewhere).
Once the complete set of documents to be included in the eBundle has been identified before the deadline, or if you get to the deadline and the other side have, despite reminders, not confirmed what documents they want to be included (so you have to proceed with what you have) then it is time to produce a final draft eBundle with fixed final page numbers.
Create a single-page Word document named Title Page for Draft.doc containing the words FINAL DRAFT EBUNDLE WITH FIXED PAGE NUMBERS in large type. This will appear as a title page in the bundle just before the index.
Create and download a bundle, with page numbering, using the standard Litigation Ready options or with standard Bundledocs options. When doing this:
exclude the Documents not currently proposed to be included in the Final Hearing Bundle folder
include all other folders (except of course the "Exclude from final bundle" folders which are never to be included such as the Duplicates with different references - EXCLUDE from final bundle folder and the Inter-partes Correspondence - EXCLUDE from final bundle folder)
select the "Title Page for Draft" document as the title/cover page
select the "About this Bundle" document to be the page after the Index
When you have created the final draft eBundle and downloaded it, rename the bundle PDF to FINAL DRAFT BUNDLE and send it to the other side by whatever file transfer system has been agreed and invite them to confirm that references are correct:-
I have created the final draft of the eBundle with final fixed page numbers which shows which documents are the exhibits referred to in statements so that you can double-check in particular that the documents referred to in your statements are correctly identified. Those documents which will, in the eventual hardcopy, need to be printed on A3 are also indicated. I would propose to send to you the final eBundle with target page numbers imprinted in the right hand margin next to exhibit references in statements by [date]. [Some of the documents referred to in your statements do not identify the document referred to using an exhibit mark: in these cases can you let me know by [date] what the page number of the referred-to document is so that this can be added to the margin.]
Add printing instructions
While you are waiting for any comments from the other side you can add printing instructions to the "About this Bundle" document ensuring that it does not overflow onto a second page so that page numbering is not disturbed.
Create a Title Page
The cover of a volume of a hardcopy conventionally is a page containing the name and number of the case in the top half of the page and, below that, within tramlines, the title of the bundle and date of the hearing it will be used in. The function of the cover of a hardcopy volume is (like the cover of a book), to enable the volume to be easily identified if, for example, if it is on a table with many other volumes. Such considerations do not apply to the eBundle PDF itself (it is identified by filename) but the eBundle nevertheless needs to have a Title Page as the first page in the PDF matching the cover of the hardcopy (although, unless the hardcopy is a single volume, it will not be quite an exact match because each volume of the hardcopy will have the volume number in large type included in its Title Page).
Create a single-page Word document named Title Page.doc with the name and number of the case and, below that, the title - e.g. FINAL HEARING BUNDLE for hearing 28 January 2026 - within tramlines.
Then create a bundle using the same options as you used for Final Draft Bundle but selecting Title Page.doc as the title/cover page. Download the bundle PDF.
Add page references
Don't forget to do whatever it is you have decided to do post-generation to facilitate exhibit links and add to the right hand margin of each statement the page numbers of exhibited documents.
Resize pages, alter bookmark zoom, and remove live webinks and extraneous bookmarks if you are using Litigation Ready
Litigation Ready produces a Bundle PDF containing pages of varying sizes but for a consistent browsing experience it is desirable that all pages should be no larger than A4 size and all bookmarks should have a zoom factor of "inherit" with the bookmark name commencing with the page number. If you have PDF X-Change Editor you can choose Organise - Resize with Paper Size... A4, Orientation Retain, Skip pages smaller than specified and Pages...All to change all pages to A4 and then Bookmarks - Change Zoom - Inherit - All Bookmarks to correct bookmarks. Then do Bookmarks - Find and Replace and in the Find and Replace panel enter Find What ^\d+ Replace with p%[Page] and tick Use regular expressions.
An eBundle should not contain "live" clickable weblinks. Text in a document may include e.g. www.website.com/home but it should not be a clickable live link. This is because every document to be considered at the hearing should itself be in the eBundle. If what the contents of www.website.com/home were, at the relevant point in time, is pertinent to the dispute, then a copy of the webpage should be one of the documents included in the eBundle. But nobody should seek to rely on what www.website.com/home might or might not bring up if it is clicked from the eBundle because that might change. So any clickable live link in the PDF created by Litigation Ready should be removed, leaving just the non-clickable text. To do this, in the Links pane, type http into the Find box, select all hits and delete them, then do the same with mailto. This removes all live web and live email hyperlinks from the eBundle.
When PDF documents which have their own internal bookmarks are loaded, those internal bookmarks will appear, as third-level, fourth-level etc. sub-bookmarks, underneath the bookmark for the PDF document which Litigation Ready creates in the eBundle. Those sub-bookmarks might correspond with headings and sub-headings in the PDF and may be useful, or alternatively it might be that the PDF document was not intended to include bookmarks and the bookmarks that there are are fairly random "leftovers" created just by the mechanics of producing the PDF. Similarly if an email is loaded the eBundle will contain a third-level sub-bookmark for the message (named with the Subject) together with third-level sub-bookmarks for each attached document (named with its filename) if there are any attachments. Sometimes sub-bookmarks such as there are desirable and sometimes not.
The bookmarks might be fairly random or they might be meaningful. If they are meaningful they might, on balance, not be useful and might clutter-up the bookmarks panel making things harder to find. So you have to take a view about this. You can delete sub-bookmarks of a particular bookmark if necessary. It is also possible to remove all third-level and lower, or all fourth-level and lower, bookmarks, in one operation, but that may be too drastic. To remove all third-level and lower bookmarks, for example, you can do a Bookmarks - Export to text file specifying Range of levels...1 to 2, then delete all the bookmarks in the eBundle and finally restore the level 1 and 2 bookmarks using Bookmarks - From Text File.
Bundledocs automatically produces correct page sizes etc. if you used the standard Bundledocs options, so you do should not need to do the above adjustments if you are using Bundledocs.
Finally name and send out copies of the Final Hearing Bundle to the tribunal and to the other side.
This information page is designed to be used by clients of John Antell who have entered into a written agreement for the provision of legal services.
Any explanation about naming conventions or other matters in the context of legal procedure is only an overview and in order to be reasonably concise I have had to leave some details out - details which are likely to affect what the procedural law would say about your own situation. Also, even as an overview, the information will not be applicable to every case as procedures vary between different courts and other tribunals and any tribunal may give alternative procedural directions in an individual case. So please do not rely on the above but contact me for advice.
Any information about specific computer techniques is provided for information purposes only and you should satisfy yourself, before using any techniques, software or services mentioned, that the techniques are appropriate for your purposes and that the software or service is reliable.
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the information in this page 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.
This page was lasted updated in December 2025 Disclaimer