Tracking Damages Over Time

A damages number is not one fact. It moves every time new information reaches the file: a complaint pleads a floor, a disclosure itemizes it, a demand adjusts it, and a settlement resolves it. Reconstructing that history by hand means pulling figures out of several documents and hoping you did not miss a revision.

This lesson answers: how did the damages number move and why? Three prompts build the damages timeline, explain what caused each shift, and narrow to one damages category. Two additional prompts provide more information.

Before you start

Selection controls the answer. The Assistant reads only what you select, so include every pleading, disclosure, demand letter and settlement document.
Fill in the [brackets]. Replace each one with the specifics from your matter, such as document names and the damages category, before you run the prompt.

Prompts

Build a timeline showing how the total damages amount changed across [the selected documents], from [the complaint] through [the settlement]. For each entry, give the date, the document it came from, and the dollar amount.

For each change in the requested damages amount in [the timeline], identify what happened in the matter that likely caused the change. Cite the specific language in the documents that supports each explanation.

Track how the [damages category] figure specifically changed across [the selected documents], and explain the reason for each change.

Trust but verify

Every answer has blue numbers at the end, those are the citations. Click those numbers to see an excerpt of the document your answer came from. If needed, click the excerpt to see the answer highlighted in your document.

Challenge

Pick a real matter this week with more than one damages figure. Select the pleadings, disclosures, demand letters and settlement documents, fill in the brackets, and run Prompt 1.