Today most firms manage undertakings using their computers. Sadly, for the most part, the process has only 'computerized' what is really a system developed in the age of the quill. Typically, a reference is made to the page and question number, a paraphrase of the undertaking is typed in, and perhaps a column is left for the response to be typed in. Working with the list of undertakings is awkward at best and dangerous at worst.

To prepare a motion regarding unfulfilled undertakings, all you need to do is cut and paste from several documents, flip through the correspondence file of the matter; a few hours work and you're done.

What undertakings have we yet to fulfill ourselves and what is their status? Again only a few hours work.

We just got in a document from Mr. Jones' counsel in the Jones v. Smith matter - does anybody know why we got this? It can take perhaps 10 minutes to figure it out.

Wasted time, wasted client money, wasted effort.

Most cases today are document heavy and data rich. Software tools that the profession has come to depend on to assist with managing documents and data can be used to facilitate the administration of undertakings as well. CaseMap, Concordance, LiveNote, Summation and others can all be used to effectively administer the processing of undertakings; collecting them from a transcript, ensuring they are fulfilled, and if necessary developing the motion to compel their production.

The present article will illustrate how CaseMap can be configured to administer undertakings. Subsequent articles will cover undertaking administration protocols in the other applications.

CaseMap is a valuable tool for collecting, managing, slicing and dicing the facts of a case and the evidence that supports those facts. It is invaluable in preparing for examinations and trial with its ability to link facts and evidence to questions and issues.

We have developed the undertakings protocol by adding some minor customizations to CaseMap. These protocols provide even further data when using CaseMap to develop your arguments and theory of the case.

Working your way down through the transcript you select the text of every undertaking (and advisement and refusal - more on those in a later article). When complete, preparing the report to request undertakings from the other side is a simple matter of pressing a button. Here is a simple example report.

As productions are received, the date-of-receipt column is filled in denoting that this item is complete. A field is available to paraphrase the 'answer'. In addition to knowing that the undertaking is complete. The actual item can be 'attached' to the undertaking record for easy reference.

The real power of this protocol becomes apparent when attempting to collect unfulfilled undertakings. Simply filtering the undertakings view for items that have no completion date yields a table, this can be for a single deponent or all examined parties.

As emails and phone calls are made, letters are written demanding the production of these undertakings and the steps taken can be recorded directly in this table.

This system also works perfectly well for managing the undertakings your client has given. The only difference would be that as you work to collect the material you could use the Undertaking Status Narrative field as a place to keep notes on the stage of the production. For example you might say that "a letter was written 10-Oct-2008 to the bank requesting the documents" or that the doctor's notes and records were requested on 12-Oct-2008. This information will be invaluable when responding to the other side when they ask for a status update and when they request when the material can be expected.

This protocol turns a complicated task into a routine task. The information and status is available to anyone in the firm involved in the case. The protocol removed the need to 'remember' what happened or what was promised. It's fast, clear and complete and it provides direct links to the materials produced.