How to create a court bundle index in Word from your file names
Number, description, date and page numbers, in a Word document you can edit, kept up to date when the bundle changes.
The short answer
A bundle index is usually a Word table typed by hand: a number, a description, a date and a page range for each document. The page ranges have to be worked out by counting, and worked out again when a document is added.
LHT DMS, a desktop program for Windows and macOS, builds the index from the file names in your case folder. It takes the number, the description and the date from each name, and the page numbers from the page count of each file. The index is a Word document, so you can edit it. When the bundle changes, the app updates it without altering what you have written.
Doing it by hand
By hand, you type a row for each document, count its pages and add up the page ranges. Three things make this slow:
The index has pages of its own, which move every number after it.
A document added in the middle changes the page range of every document that follows.
A case heading placed above the index adds pages, and the numbers move again.
Doing it with LHT DMS
Name the files with a number, a description and a dateFor example "1 Claim 01-01-2026", "2 Witness Statement 02-01-2026" and "3 Correspondence 01-01-2025 - 31-12-2025". The files can be PDF, Word or image. Files without a number are ignored.
Drag the folder into the Draft Index tabChoose the format: three columns for a bundle of authorities, four with a date column, or five with a date and a party column. Choose the font and the date format.
Click Create Draft IndexThe app creates "0 COVER-INDEX.docx" in the same folder. Dates are taken from the file names, date ranges included. The page numbers allow for the pages of the index itself.
Edit the index in Word as you wishChange the descriptions. Add sub-headings such as Pleadings or Witness Statements by inserting a merged row. The app does not touch merged rows.
Add the case headingStitch Intitulement lays your own Word heading on top of the index, with its formatting intact, and re-counts the page numbers for the pages it adds.
Update it when the bundle changesUpdate Pages re-counts the page numbers. Update Dates & Pages also re-reads the dates from the file names. Update List & Pages adds the documents that are in the folder but not yet in the index, in number order and in blue, so that you can check their descriptions.
Compile the bundleOn the Compile tab the index goes in as the first document. Its page numbers are checked against the finished bundle and corrected. Unless Clear Links is ticked, its entries are linked to the documents.
An index in Word that you can edit like any other document.
Dates and page ranges filled in for every document, from PDF, Word and image files alike.
Your own descriptions and sub-headings kept through every update.
New documents added as new rows in blue. Nothing already in the index is changed or removed.
If the index lists a document the folder no longer holds, the app says which and changes nothing, because a description written by hand cannot be recovered.
Where your documents go
Nowhere. The index is built on your own computer from the files in your own folder. Nothing is uploaded to Legal Hi Tech or to any third party, and the software uses no generative AI.
Questions
Will an update overwrite the descriptions I have edited?
No. Update Pages changes the page numbers only. Update List & Pages adds rows for new documents and re-counts the pages; nothing already in the index is changed or removed.
What must a file name contain?
A number at the start, then the description. A date is optional, written like 01-01-2026; two dates give a date range. For example "3 Correspondence 01-01-2025 - 31-12-2025".
Can I add sub-headings to the index?
Yes. Insert a merged row and type the heading. The app leaves merged rows as they are and re-counts the document rows around them.
Can I rename the index file?
No. Keep the name "0 COVER-INDEX.docx". The app finds the index by that name.
What does it cost?
The desktop app is free for all of 2026, with every feature and no limit on the number or size of files. Annual licensing begins in January 2027. Prices are on the pricing page.
