Item Links - Handling Attachments

See Also: (links are at bottom of this page)

Overview

The Item Links Introduction explained that Attachments are a special kind of Item Link. Item Links are connections between two Items. The connector is an Item Link Type, which is a matching pair of expressions (e.g. Mentions / Mentioned in) representing each side of the link. If the Item Link Type is Has as an Attachment / Is attached to then a set of rules and implications arise which are specific to this relationship.

This subject cuts across a number of Openlaw concepts. The end product will or may include

	a printed Report of all the Items marked In List ...
	... each with its own List Number ...
	... which may be saved as a Bundle Number (i.e. stored with the Bundle for recall into the Item Cards)
	Bundles of printed Images (when you may want the images of Attached Items to appear immediately behind the Item to which they are attached).
	an exported Case containing the Items in the Disclosure List as renumbered Items (i.e. identified by their List Number not their Item Number).

Each of these concepts is separately explained in the sections called by the links shown above. The key component is the List Number which is allocated once the content and order of the List is finalised. From that point on, the List Number, rather than the Item Number, is what identifies an Item - it appears in the first column in Reports, it becomes the Bundle Number, and any data records or images supplied to opponents will bear that number not the Item Number.

This is all relatively straightforward for a simple list without Attachment Links between Items - every Item has a List Number and appears only once in a printed list, in a bundle of printed images or in an export bundle. What, however, if some Items are attached to other Items, possibly to more than one other Item? Obvious examples include documents enclosed with letters and, increasingly, attachments to e-mails.

The source of Attachment Links

The examples below make use of the linked Items in the Openlaw Demo Case.

The picture shows the Item Links Tab for Item 16 which shows its parent (Item 4) and child (Item 17). The order in which Items follow each other in printed lists etc follows the order shown on this tab. You can alter the order with the button <Position Items>.

Mapping to Disclosure concepts

Attachments raise an issue which is inherent in the Disclosure process anyway - is a document to be listed in its own right as an entry in the List in addition to its status as an attachment to another document? Rule 31.9 of the CPR discourages (without forbidding) the disclosure of copies of documents. Openlaw allows you to re-use a single entry as many times as you like, so that an Item can equally be an entry with its own List Number and an attachment to one or more other entries. Alternatively, you can treat each occurrence of the document as a separate Item.

It does not matter which approach you use as long as you are consistent and are aware of the implications of each choice. One such implication is that you cannot save an Item more than once in a Bundle unless the sole purpose of the Bundle is to print Bundles of images (e.g. as a trial bundle). Such a Bundle is called a PrintBundle and it cannot be loaded for viewing or reporting - only for printing ranges of images.

Another implication is the possibility of disclosing a privileged document by inadvertently bringing it into a Selection by reference because it is linked as an Attachment to a non-privileged document. Openlaw provides checks at various stages to alert you to such mixed populations, but the final selection is obviously down to you.

You should also consider whether you intend to export some of the Item information in your Case into a new free-standing Case for delivery to others such as opponents. This subject is covered in the Manual section Export as a New Case.

Illustrated Summary of Options showing Numbering

You can handle these Attachments in one of four ways:

1.	Include any attachments as an integral part of the Item (and not use the Attachments concept at all)
2.	Treat every attachment as an Item in its own right but appearing ONLY as a child to other Items
3.	Treat every attachment as an Item in its own right and NOT displaying the relationship with other Items
4.	Treat every attachment as an Item in its own right and appearing BOTH in its own place in the list AND as a child to another document

Taking each of these in turn:

1.	Include any attachments as an integral part of the Item

The simplest way to handle Attachments is to scan them as part of the document to which they are attached and to include reference to them in the Item Description of the parent. This does not use the Openlaw Attachments concept at all.

Document No 3 in the example above is a single entry referring to multiple attachments.

The Attachments are not separately itemised and are scanned as part of the parent's image

Detail of Option 1

2.	Treat every attachment as an Item in its own right but appearing ONLY as a child to other Items

Each Item has its own List Number (essential if the Items are to be printed or exported) but appear in the reports only as Attachments, subordinate to parent Items to which they were attached (whether in physical paper terms or as attachments to e-mail messages).

In this example the letter from Mary Ballantyne is now numbered 3 with its attachments (which will logically be dated earlier) appearing after the parent entry with their own numbers in a sequence reflecting their position in the list.

Detail of Option 2

3.	Treat every attachment as an Item in its own right and NOT displaying the relationship with other Items

On the face of the report, the Items appear as individual entries. You may have maintained the link within Openlaw for your own reference purposes, but that link does not appear publicly and is used only as an internal aide memoire.

You cannot tell from this list that No 1 was attached to No 6, No 2 attached to No 1 and so on.

Detail of Option 3

4.	Treat every attachment as an Item in its own right and appearing BOTH in its own place in the list AND as a child to another document

It may be helpful to show attached Items twice - once in their own date order place and again as attachments, possibly to more than one parent.

Document No 6 in this example is the letter sending the Attachments, with the attachments both listed in their own right and appearing as indented rows below their parents

Detail of Option 4

See the Manual section on Standard Reports to learn about the options when producing these Reports.

Note the possibility of including as an Attachment an Item whose In List or Privileged setting is different from that of the Item to which it is attached. Warnings are given about this at various relevant stages.