Your folder contains FINAL, FINAL2 and the immortal FINAL-really-final.
Names that sort by date, preserve received originals and identify the exact version sent.
A litigation solicitor with electronic disclosure and records-management experience.
The filename should answer four questions
Every filename should tell me what the document is, where it came from, the date people will use to identify it, and what I am allowed to do with it—without opening it.
This method separates two kinds of files. A file received from someone else is an original record. A document you create is a working document with a version lifecycle. Never apply the drafting workflow to received originals.
The examples in this guide use fictional names and case-file details. The filing method is the part to keep.
Never overwrite anything received
Keep the sender’s original filename, including any document-system reference, timestamp or machine-generated identifier. The name may form part of the document’s provenance and may be the reference used by the sender later.
Meridian Site Meeting - 17 October - Transcript.pdf
If a received document later becomes an exhibit, make a copy and add the exhibit reference as a prefix. Do not replace the original name.
Do not edit, rename or overwrite a received file. Preserve it separately before making an exhibit copy, OCR text copy, redacted copy or working copy.
Start every dated file with YYMMDD -
For documents you create, the filename begins with the six-digit date printed on the face of the document, followed by a space, hyphen and space.
The format is always:
For correspondence, use the date by which the document will be identified later: “the letter dated 25 December 2026”. Drafting may begin earlier, but the face date controls the filename.
Versions go at the end
Draft in Word and give every editable working copy a version number. Do not maintain a second, unsuffixed Word file whose relationship to the numbered versions must be remembered.
261225 - Letter to Doyle Stroud re Site Inspection_v02.docx
261225 - Letter to Doyle Stroud re Site Inspection_v03.docx
When the content is approved, keep the final editable Word file numbered. Create the delivery PDF from that version using the stable unsuffixed base name:
261225 - Letter to Doyle Stroud re Site Inspection.pdf
The Word version identifies the drafting state. The unsuffixed PDF is the exact clean copy sent or filed.
Those words multiply quickly and stop meaning anything. Version numbers identify editable drafts; the file in the Sent or Filed folder records what actually left your control.
Status and permission markers go at the front
A prefix changes the way you treat a file without changing its underlying name.
[SEALED] 261228 - Orders for Site Inspection.pdf
This keeps the document recognisable while making its status visible at a glance. It also groups similarly tagged files when a folder is sorted by name.
The practical rule is:
A prefix is an internal control, not a legal conclusion. A filename alone does not create privilege, determine admissibility or change the effect of a document.
Useful prefixes may include:
[SEALED]for the court-sealed copy;[SIGNED]for an executed copy;[HOLD]for something prepared but not authorised to send;[UNVERIFIED]for working material containing unchecked facts or citations;[RESTRICTED]as an internal warning where use is constrained.
Work in Word; produce the PDF at the last step
The highest numbered Word version remains the editable authored copy. When the text is approved, print or export it to PDF as the delivery copy.
Printing to PDF can reduce the editing history and personal metadata carried by a Word file, but it is not a guarantee that the PDF contains no metadata. Check the PDF’s properties, filename, pages, comments and redactions before sending it.
After sending or filing, retain the exact PDF that left your control. Do not regenerate it later and assume the result is identical.
Organise by matter, fight and status
Under pressure, the active unit of work is usually a motion, complaint, mediation or hearing—not a document type. Keep the material needed for one fight together, then use shallow status folders where a document moves through a process.
├── 00 Restricted - do not upload or send
├── Site inspection
│ ├── Working
│ ├── To be signed
│ ├── Signed
│ └── Filed or sealed
├── Contract proceeding
└── Hearing preparation
The restricted folder is a deliberate quarantine for compelled, suppressed, privileged or otherwise controlled material. The name is a warning, not a legal conclusion: record the actual restriction and permitted uses inside the folder.
This makes the folder answer the practical question: “Which copy did the court receive?” It also avoids distributing one task across separate correspondence, affidavit, evidence and orders trees.
The method at a glance
- Never alter or overwrite a file received from someone else.
- Preserve machine-generated and document-system filenames.
- Start every dated file you create with
YYMMDD -. - Use the date printed on the face of correspondence.
- Draft in Word and add
_v01,_v02and later versions at the end. - Keep the final editable Word file versioned; use the stable unsuffixed name for the issued PDF.
- Put status and permission markers at the front.
- Use neutral descriptions rather than arguments in evidence filenames.
- Produce the PDF only at the final delivery stage.
- Inspect the PDF and retain the exact copy sent or filed.
- Quarantine restricted material and record the basis of the restriction.
- Organise folders by matter, fight and workflow status.