Category: TrialLine Tutorial

How to Create a Legal Timeline in Minutes

In the fast-paced world of law, time is everything. Lawyers juggle complex cases with countless details, deadlines, and events. A legal timeline serves as a visual roadmap, organizing facts chronologically to reveal patterns, strengthen arguments, and streamline presentations. But creating one from scratch can feel overwhelming. Enter TrialLine, a cloud-based tool designed specifically for attorneys. With TrialLine, you can build a professional legal timeline in minutes, not hours. This guide walks you through the process step by step.

Why Use a Legal Timeline?

Before diving in, consider the advantages. A well-crafted timeline helps you:

  • Spot inconsistencies in case facts.
  • Track key deadlines and milestones.
  • Present compelling stories in mediations or trials.
  • Collaborate with your team in real time.

TrialLine makes this easy by turning raw data into interactive visuals. It integrates with tools like Clio, allowing seamless import of case details. Plus, features like filtering, sorting, and list views keep everything organized.

Getting Started with TrialLine

Ready to create your timeline? TrialLine offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card required. Head to trialline.net and sign up. Once logged in, follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Set Up Your Case

After signing in, click “Create a New TrialLine” in the upper right hand corner. Enter basic case info like the title, client name, and description.

Step 2: Add Events Quickly

TrialLine’s intuitive interface lets you input events fast. Use the “New Event” button to enter details such as:

  • Date and time.
  • Description of the event.
  • Supporting documents or notes.
  • Categories for easy filtering (e.g., motions, depositions).

Import data from Clio or upload spreadsheets to populate multiple events at once. No manual typing needed for bulk entries.

Step 3: Organize and Customize

Use different layouts to view the data. Share your timeline with expert witnesses or team members to gather comments and feedback. Apply filters to show or hide specific types, review comments. Switch to list view for a text-based overview. Customize colors, labels, and layouts to match your case’s narrative. TrialLine’s tools ensure your timeline looks polished without design skills.

Step 4: Review and Share

Preview your timeline in various formats: chronological, zoomed in, or exported as a doc or image. Share via link for team collaboration or courtroom use.

Plus – now with our new offline app you can download your TrialLine’s for full offline use and presentation.

Setting Up International Date Formats in TrialLine

Now you can set-up your TrialLines with international date formats…

For international clients, we are happy to share with you how to set-up TrialLine legal timelines software to default to alternative international date formats. We now support European, South American, and Asian date formats (as well as those used in the United States). You can also retroactively change the date format of existing TrialLines.  Continue reading “Setting Up International Date Formats in TrialLine”

Using The Criteria Filter

TrialLine recently introduced a ‘Criteria Filter’ option that enables you to choose which events on your TrialLine display, based on a specific set of criteria. 

The ‘Criteria Filter’ works differently than the traditional filter option in TrialLine, in that it only displays events that match the specific criteria you select from the ‘Criteria Filter’ menu. Continue reading “Using The Criteria Filter”

TrialLine’s New ‘Contacts’ Feature

TrialLine recently added a new ‘Contacts’ feature that enables you to add contacts to your TrialLines, and these contacts can then be associated with specific events, facts and documents.

This allows you to create contact-specific views of your TrialLine that can be used in depositions, witness examinations or as a visual aid to help you get a better understanding of a particular person’s role in your case. Continue reading “TrialLine’s New ‘Contacts’ Feature”

Using Tags and Categories Effectively in TrialLine

One of the most helpful features that TrialLine provides is the ability to sort which events are displayed along your timeline and which are not, by filtering out events based on what category they are included in, and/or what tags are attached to them.

Controlling the way that the facts and details of your case are presented is the key to creating the narrative of your case. And this is important for a number or reasons.

Not only is it the key to creating a compelling and efficient narrative when in front of a judge or jury, it’s also a key aspect of your case preparation. Remember, sometimes it’s the paring down of information that is required to clarify a story, or bring to light important information. Continue reading “Using Tags and Categories Effectively in TrialLine”