(LSSP)Make a book of documents

Make a book of documents

You'll need

  • A three-ring binder large enough to hold all the documents you'll need
  • Labelled dividers or sticky notes
  • A hole punch
  • All the documents you will plan to present at trial
Like a trial book, a book of documents isn't required but it's a very useful tool. It's a binder containing all the documents you plan to present to the court as evidence during the trial. You can enter this book of documents as an exhibit at trial.

Create an organized book of documents

  • Put your documents in order according to date
  • Separate the documents with numbered tabs or sticky-notes, so you can find them easily
  • Number each page of any document longer than one page

The documents section in your trial book will list which witness will identify each document. But remember, you don't always have to call a witness to identify a document. If you can get the other person to agree that you can use a particular document to prove a particular fact, you might be able to present the document in court without needing to call a witness.

Reach an agreement at the Trial Management Conference on what documents you'll both agree to admit. Or use a Notice to Admit (Form 26) to get the other person's agreement about admitting documents. See What is discovery? to find out more about this.

Consider preparing a joint book of documents

If possible, it's very helpful to the court if you and the other person can agree to prepare a joint book of documents. This way, all the documents are in one place. If everyone involved in the case agrees, this joint book of documents can be entered as an exhibit at the trial.

There might be some documents you want to present to the court that the other person objects to including in the joint book of documents. In that case, you'll have to deal with those documents separately during the trial.

Updated on 21 May 2019