TimeMap: Using Timelines To Make You Smarter and More Persuasive
Reprinted with permission. As printed in the 8/30/00 issue of
BY DENNIS KENNEDY, ESQ.

Sometimes the simplest tools are the best tools. TimeMap, a new timeline creation program from CaseSoft (www.casesoft.com), keeps things simple and gives attorneys a valuable new tool for both analysis and presentation.

Expert mechanics always seem to have a specialty tool that is perfect for each task. I’ll bloody my knuckles struggling with a crescent wrench on a hard-to-reach bolt, only to find that a mechanic has a simple tool that handles the job with ease in seconds. TimeMap fits into that "right-tool-for-the-job" category.

Yes, there are many ways to create timelines – word processors, spreadsheets, graphics programs, even drawing by hand. If you make timelines, you have probably has used all these methods, only to find that none of them work quite the way you’d like. As a result, you probably create timelines only for cases in which you can justify the expense and bother of creating them.

TimeMap makes it so easy to create timelines that you will actually start to look for other ways to use timelines. That’s important, because there is power in the visual representation of a chronology.

Here’s an example. Years ago, I was involved in a complex dioxin contamination trial as a law clerk for a judge. The events at issue happened over ten years before the trial and were complex and confusing. Witnesses often could not remember even the year in which something had happened. A good timeline chart would have been invaluable to everyone.

I later learned that Bob Wiss and Greg Krehel, the principals behind TimeMap, were jury consultants for that same dioxin trial. That case, and their experience as litigation consultants, led them to develop CaseMap, arguably the most important litigation tool now available, and now TimeMap. While CaseMap also has the ability to create timelines, TimeMap is a focused tool specifically for that purpose. TimeMap will tie into your CaseMap data, giving you a complete set of tools to manage facts and issues in cases, but it is a standalone product that will help you easily create timeline visuals for display in trials or timelines that help you understand, analyze and organize your cases.

In the CaseMap tradition, TimeMap is priced very reasonably — $199 for a single-user license, with discounts available for multiple purchases. You also get 1 month of Casesoft’s widely praised telephone support.

The program has a great learning tool called "TimeMap 101" built into the program. Spend a few minutes with TimeMap 101 and you’ll be up and running. TimeMap is one of the easiest programs I’ve ever learned. There are two reasons for this. First, it sticks to its knitting – it creates timelines and doesn’t try to do a hundred other things. Second, functions work how you expect them to work.

The time scale sits at the bottom of your screen. Above the time scale, you create text boxes with descriptions of what happened on certain dates. Each box links to the time scale by a line. You can change colors of boxes and fonts. When you add a new text box for a date, the time scale adjusts automatically to cover your range of dates.

You can arrange the text boxes manually or let the handy "auto-arranger" do that for you. Too many boxes on your page? It’s easy to spread the timeline over multiple pages or change the view and layout of the timeline. The timelines can be saved in a number of standard formats, copied into word processing documents, printed and used to create large visuals, or even put onto the Web.

TimeMap shows a lot of attention to usability features. The helpful auto-arranger is one example, especially for those of us who have difficulty arranging things on a page. You can add a new text box simply by using the "insert" key. In fact, I’ve only had a few quibbles. It wasn’t obvious how to enter dates in the default, numerical format (the default, though, can be changed to your date format preference). I also struggled with resizing text boxes because resizing didn’t work the same way as I’m used to in PowerPoint. Ten seconds with manual set me straight on both counts. The manual also includes three great articles from Greg Krehel, actually making it worthwhile to read the manual.

TimeMap is in version 1.0 and will undoubtedly go through a series of improvements and enhancements, but I like the way it has been put out as a simple and straightforward tool.

So, you have an easy to use program that creates timelines. How will that help you?

TimeMap is designed to be a litigation tool. A timeline can be used to present your facts to help a witness, a judge or a jury understand the sequence of key events in your case. You might create the timeline as you develop facts to see the patterns in a case and what gaps your need to fill in. Some lawyers use TimeMap to create a timeline as facts are developed in a deposition. A timeline will also help you get the story of your case straight in your mind.

TimeMap’s features help you tell that story. For example, you might use boxes with differently colored borders for events that relate to a certain witness or to highlight deadlines or key events. You can create multiple timelines for different aspects of your case. For example, you might create a timeline showing visits to doctors after an injury or payments made prior to a bankruptcy filing. A timeline can be extremely helpful in analyzing, assessing and arguing cases.

TimeMap, however, has value in any setting where it would be helpful to present time visually. A patent lawyer might use it to show events leading up to and following an invention. In a custody battle, a timeline showing visits by a parent might graphically show the level of a parent’s involvement.

I recently used TimeMap to create a timeline showing the important dates for my daughter’s upcoming school year. Now, I can see in one place when the key dates and breaks are. I’m intrigued by the time planning possibilities of TimeMap. Imagine having a timeline showing all your upcoming deadlines for the month or the year. You might also use TimeMap to monitor progress with projects. It really makes a difference when you can see the relationship and sequence of events visually.

Timelines might also be useful for client information purposes. Imagine generating for an executor a timeline showing key dates for filing probate matters and tax returns. A timeline might also be a useful tool for showing a client filing deadlines or deposition schedules in a litigation matter.

In sum, TimeMap is a simple and powerful tool that can produce great results for many lawyers who need to explain chronologies. TimeMap also allows you to create these timelines on a regular basis, not just in the exceptional cases. The price should make it attractive to all lawyers. My biggest complaint: that Bob and Greg didn’t have TimeMap developed about 12 years ago when we were involved in that dioxin trial.