What is a Bundle?
A Bundle is a document which will be used at the Trial or Final Hearing.
A Bundle, or Bundles are agreed between the Claimant(s) and Defendant(s). Bundles will include everything relevant to the case, including Statements of Case, Witness Statements and Disclosure.
Often, there will be what is known as an Authorities Bundle, which is a bundle of previous cases with similar issues, that may assist the Court in deciding any issues of law.
Typically a bundle is an A4 leaver arch ringbinder folder, which has the agreed documents in it. The Courts direct that a Bundle should have a maximum of 350 pages – so its often the case there will be multiple bundles, depending on how many pages of documents there are.
Under Practice Direction 4B of the Civil Procedure Rules, there are some very useful directions, which can be found HERE.
Preparing the Index
Before starting to prepare a bundle, a good place to start is with an Index.
An Index will generally be able to be agreed with your opponent, as the content will have already been served on eachother.
There is no “right” or “wrong” way to put together a Bundle, as long as both sides can readily access them. It will also depend on the complexity of the case – for example whether it’s 1 Folder, or 10 Folders.
A logical way to put a Bundle (or Bundles) together is in the following order;
- Claim Form
- Particulars of Claim
- Defence
- Reply
- Requests for Further Information
- Witness Statements
- Disclosure
- Correspondence
If you have a complex case and/or lots of documents it may make sense to split things in the form of A1, B1, B2, etc;
- A Bundles – Statements of Case
- B Bundles – Witness Statements
- C Bundles – The Claimant’s Disclosure/Documents
- D Bundles – The Defendant’s Disclosure/Documents
- E Bundles – Correspondence
Once you have worked out the number of bundles required, you can then create the Index, which will list each document, its location, and page number.
Often it makes sense to initially prepare the Index with the list of documents to seek agreement on, and add the page numbers after the Index is agreed. This means that if there are any re-orders or missing documents, you don’t need to re-number all your pages!
Preparing the Bundle
A once you have prepared the Index, it should be easy to prepare the Bundle itself – you simply follow the order of the bundle.
Each page of document in the bundle will need to be paginated, usually in the bottom right corner. There are various pieces of software that can do this for you. It makes sense to get everything paginated, and then return to the Index to add the page numbers in.
Although not advised for every Bundle, in the case of an A Bundle, as described above, it will assist the Judge if you can use page dividers.
Before anything gets printed, it’s worth checking your page numbers are correct and reflect the Index.
Finally, get printing! If you’ve thousands of pages to print – it may be easier and cheaper to use a professional printer.
Remember: you will need to have copies of all Bundles for all the parties, and also for the Court.
Digital Bundles
As the world moves on, whether Hearings or Trials are conducted physically or remotely – digital bundles can greatly assist the Court and reduce on costs.
Obviously, life is easier as there is no need for printing! Although sometimes Judges like to have a physical A Bundle (see above), and the rest digital.
One difference between digital, as opposed to physical bundles, is that there is not the 350-page limit. So you could submit a single 5,000 PDF. However, if you do – it will immensely help the Court to hyperlink the Index, to the Judge can navigate easily.
A second point on digital bundles is making sure that all documents with text can be ‘searchable’. Often (usually to be annoying) opponents can scan pages of text as images, which means they can’t be searched!
Something to watch out for!
Many firms of solicitors have a ‘department’ that creates Bundles. It’s great and easy money!
Whilst on the the face it, a solicitor offering prepare the Bundle(s) may seem very helpful – they often are doing it increase revenue for their Bundles’ department – and you may find yourself unwittingly agreeing to costs you didn’t realise!