Court bundle preparation: support for small law firms

Key takeaways

Preparing a court bundle means collating the right documents, ordering them in sections, indexing, paginating and formatting to the court's practice direction, then checking it before filing. The selection is legal work; the assembly is repetitive and exacting. In family proceedings, Practice Direction 27A sets detailed rules, including a 350-page limit unless the court directs otherwise.

• Follow the relevant practice direction and any court order.
• Index, section and paginate consistently.
• Family bundles: 350 pages unless the court directs otherwise.
• Document selection stays with the fee earner.

What does bundle preparation involve?

It involves gathering the documents the fee earner selects, putting them in the required sections and order, creating an index, paginating every page, bookmarking electronic bundles, checking legibility and orientation, and producing the bundle in the required format by the deadline. Each step follows rules; mistakes are visible to the court.

• How UK SMEs can use outsourcing to handle repetitive tasks
• Document formatting support: proposals that look right

Which rules apply?

Rules depend on the court and proceedings. Family cases follow Practice Direction 27A of the Family Procedure Rules, which covers content, order, page limits and timing. Civil courts have their own guidance, and judges often give specific directions. Keep a short checklist per court so the assembly is consistent.

• Sections and order as directed.
• Index with page references.
• Continuous pagination.
• Bookmarks for electronic bundles.
• Page limit and filing deadline.

• Checklists that reduce errors in routine business work
• How to improve efficiency in a small law firm

What does bundling take?

In an illustrative example, a 300-page bundle takes about 3 to 5 hours to assemble, index, paginate and check once documents are selected. A firm preparing six a month spends 18 to 30 hours, often by fee earners at the last minute. These are example figures.

• How to increase billable hours without longer days
• Skilled staff stuck doing admin? What it costs you

What must stay with the fee earner?

Deciding which documents go in, agreeing the bundle with the other side and any judgement on privilege or relevance must stay with the fee earner. Bundles contain confidential and often sensitive personal data, so a support team needs secure access, a processor contract and clear rules on retention.

• GDPR and offshore outsourcing
• Data security with an outsourced team

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: bundles are assembled the night before the deadline because fee earners are in other hearings. Fixing an internal deadline two days earlier, with assembly handed to a dedicated team, ends the late nights.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

Bundle checklist

Check every bundle against these points.

• Correct practice direction and order applied.
• Index matches page numbers.
• Every page legible and the right way up.
• Page limit respected.
• Fee earner final check before filing.

• Conveyancing admin support: keep files moving

Next step

Send us the types of bundle you prepare and how often. We will suggest a routine and say plainly what a support team could assemble.