In one sentence
Exhibits, offers of proof and indexes now follow the legal system of your matter: in Germany it is “Anlage”, in Austria and Switzerland “Beilage”, in France “Pièce”, in England “Exhibit”, and whether an index belongs depends on the country.
What changes
Until now, finalizing a pleading followed the German pattern. The rules now live in a convention register, one data record per country: the word for an exhibit, the numbering, offer of proof in the text or in a separate list, an index in the pleading, the parties' terms in the caption and, only where we have read it from an official source, the portal and file formats for electronic filing. Eleven legal systems are stored today; every entry carries a confidence level, a source and a date. Everything that creates or recognizes exhibits reads from this register: the pleading draft, exhibit numbers, the filing package, the reference check and the assistant.
What you will see
- In the “Finalize pleading” dialog a collapsible row “Conventions for …”. It shows what is stored for your country and lets you deviate per package: the word on the stamp, the exhibit index, continuous page numbers.
- In the assistant the tick box “Follow this legal system's rules”. A short pleading in Germany does not get an invented exhibit index; an English draft gets a separate exhibit list.
- The parties are named in the caption as is customary in the country, for example “Plaintiff” in the USA.
Extensible without a rebuild
If a colleague tells you that Italy does it differently, that is a single data record with a source and a date, not a rebuild. “Report a convention request” in the row reaches us directly.
What it does not do
- We transmit nothing and never call a package “compliant”. PDF is the common denominator everywhere; whether a portal accepts a file is up to the portal.
- What we have not read from a statute or official source is shown as “not verified” and is not presented as fact.
- The conventions are guidance. Please check your court's requirements.
More in the handbook: Exhibits and pleadings in other legal systems and Finalizing a pleading.
