📖 The basics of Juristic Timeline

Introduction

Juristic Timeline is more than just a digital timeline. It is a smart timeline and overview tool designed specifically for lawyers and advisors, created with genuine insight into how legal professionals work. While we sometimes market it as a timeline tool, in reality it does much more. Built by lawyers, for lawyers, it provides functionality that goes beyond simple visuals – it produces real deliverables and supports work across the entire legal value chain.

So what makes Juristic Timeline best-in-class? To highlight just a few of its unique features:

• You can create timelines automatically by dragging emails directly from Outlook. Our JuristIQ-powered email split ensures duplicates are checked and managed.

• You can import documents just as easily, including long scanned PDFs which can be split into multiple files using AI.

• You can export timelines as professional PDFs that are not just static images but include a fully sorted list of documentation.

These capabilities, developed in close collaboration with industry leaders and backed by founders with deep knowledge of the legal industry, make Juristic Timeline a tool that does not just support your work but actively enhances it.

In this guide, you will learn two things how to use the base features of Juristic Timeline.

 

How to use the base features of Juristic Timeline

1. Setting up your workspace

Before you create a timeline, you’ll need to place it within a Group and a Case. Think of a Group as a folder and a Case as a specific matter.

• On the dashboard, click Groups → Create new. Give it a meaningful name, for example “M&A Projects” or “Client: Nordic Dispute”.

• Inside the Group, click Create new Case. This could be “Acquisition of Company Y” or “Litigation – Smith v. Jones”.

• Finally, within the Case, click Create new Timeline.

You can also get started directly from the Dashboard / Overview. Simply click + Timeline and the system creates a draft timeline. It works like when you open a Word document, but it is not yet saved on your computer.

 

2. Building your first events 

Events are the building blocks of a timeline. Each event holds a date, a title, optional notes, and even supporting documents.

There are multiple ways of creating events in the Timeline tool. The following steps will cover both the manual creating of events as well as the automatic event creation with AI.

How to create events manually:

1. Open your timeline and click the ‘+’ button.

2. Add a title such as “Kick-off call”.

3. Choose the date (e.g. 2 September 2025).

4. Add any details – “Introduced key stakeholders and agreed workstreams”.

5. Optionally tag the event or upload a document.

How to create events with AI:

Adding events manually is useful, but many matters involve dozens of dates hidden inside contracts, filings or email chains. Instead of hunting for each date, you can import a document and let JuristIQ suggest the events.

1. Click Import emails or files.

2. Upload your document (for example, a draft SPA or litigation pleadings).

3. Check the box in "Use JuristIQ". The system scans for dates and creates draft events.

4. You simply review, adjust, and confirm. If you want to create your own events inside the scanned documents, highlight the text with your cursor and click the little + icon. 

 

3. Export for presentations

Your timeline isn’t locked inside Juristic. You can export it in different ways depending on what you need to show and who you need to share it with.

The most common option is PowerPoint export. With a single click, your timeline becomes a clean, branded slide deck. You can choose to export a linear version, or export with all relative spacing. Warning: the relative spacing version may create very large slide decks.

You can also create PDFs. The PDF builder lets you choose how much detail to include and whether to show sub-timelines. This is useful when you want a fixed version that won’t change – for example, attaching a final timeline to a closing binder or circulating a locked chronology to regulators.

If you prefer a table format, there are Word and Excel exports. These convert your timeline into structured lists that are easy to read, filter and update. Word exports are often used for case summaries or closing checklists, while Excel exports work well for tracking obligations and tasks across larger teams.

For disputes, the Litigation Document Center takes things further. Using AI, it can draft chronologies of facts, case summaries or even witness outlines directly from your timeline. This saves hours of manual work and ensures the documents are always consistent with the events recorded.

Finally, the Word plug-in is there for anyone working primarily in Microsoft Word. You can import a timeline or diagram directly into your document.

Here's how to export:

• Click Export in the top menu

• Select the output format you want for the export.

 

4. Manage and refine your timeline

As your matter evolves, your timeline should evolve with it. Juristic makes it easy to keep the chronology clear, up to date, and tailored to your audience.

• Bulk deletion: Select multiple events with Shift+click to delete them together. You can also select multiple in the Table view, which should allow you to select multiple events with check boxes.

• Colour coding: Apply colours to events to highlight categories (e.g. filings in red, client actions in blue, counterpart deadlines in grey). This instantly communicates who is responsible for what.

• Swim lanes: Divide the timeline into parallel tracks by team, stakeholder, or jurisdiction. For example, one lane might show regulatory approvals while another shows financing steps. This requires you to work in the Relative timeline view.

• Document attachments: Link each event directly to its supporting document (e.g. the SPA, shareholder resolutions, or court submissions). That way, your timeline doubles as a document index.