Importance and purpose of trial bundles

The purpose of a trial bundle is to provide all documents which are central to the parties’ cases and to which any party’s counsel will need to refer at trial. The trial bundle will not, and should not contain all documents that have been disclosed and should not contain irrelevant or superfluous documents. This was emphasised in Innovate Pharmaceuticals Ltd v University of Portsmouth Higher Education Corporation.

Whether trial bundles have been prepared properly or not can make an enormous difference to the ease with which a case proceeds at trial. A clear and well-organised bundle will make life easier for the parties and, crucially, the judge.