Alternate Parents

When setting up docket types, there are several ways to select the date for the docket event. One way to set the date is to select a length of time either before or after the current date.

Docket events can have child dockets. The date of a child docket event is based on a time period before or after its parent's date.

Sometimes a deadline is calculated based on the date of one of two different parent events. For example, the deadline to demand the exchange of expert witness information can be either 70 days before the trial or ten days after the trial setting conference, whichever is later. The child docket is said to have alternate parents. Alternate parents are normally used in Westlaw legal calendaring rules, not custom docket types.

When a docket event that has a child docket with alternate parents is added to the Events tab, a window displays that presents a choice. The choice is whether to relate the child docket to an existing docket or not.

The best way to understand the effect of making this choice is to view an example.

Example of not relating the child to its parent:

Add a docket event, and in the Type field, select the event type with an Event Type ID of HXU.
Add a second docket event, and in the Type field, select the event type with an Event Type ID of HXE.

The Relate Alternate Parent window displays.

Select the (don't relate) option, and then click OK. A docket event with seven children is created.

Example of relating the child docket to its alternate parent:

Delete the docket event with seven children created in step 2 above.
Add the docket event with an Event Type ID of HXE again.

The Relate Alternate Parent window displays:

Select the alternate parent (as shown above), and then click OK. A docket event with six children is created. The seventh child did not need to be created because it already existed as a child of the docket event created in step 1.
In ProLaw, click on each of the children of the docket event created in step 1. When the child event that is related to the second docket event is selected, a Go to Alternate Parent icon displays.

Click this icon, and notice that the second docket event is highlighted.