The limitation date register
Every limitation date your firm carries, on one page you can print and sign, built from dates nobody can move without it showing.
What it lists
- Outstanding dates, soonest first, each with how it stands in words: overdue by four days, today, in twelve days
- The client, the file, what is due and the lawyer responsible
- How many times each date has been moved, and the reason given for the last move
- Dates flagged as limitation dates with no date recorded, on a list of their own
- Dates met in the last twelve months, with the day each was marked done
- Who prepared it and when, and a line for the reviewer’s signature and date
Standing is written out rather than coloured, so it survives a photocopier.
Why the dates on it can be trusted
A task with a hard due date cannot be saved until someone says whether that date is a limitation date or an ordinary one. There is no default, and the database enforces it, so a spreadsheet import cannot leave a date unclassified either.
Once a date is marked critical, only a lawyer, partner or administrator can move it or clear the flag, they have to say why, and the reason is kept with who made the change and when. A calendar sync will move an ordinary date and refuses to move a limitation date.
Dates imported from another system without that marking arrive locked as limitation dates and marked unconfirmed until a lawyer confirms them.
Who sees it
Lawyers, partners and firm administrators. A confidential file the reader is not on the access list for is left off rather than redacted, and the printed footer says so. Run by a firm administrator, it covers every file.
Getting the date right first
A date on the register is only as good as the count behind it. Freeboard computes a deadline from its triggering event around the firm’s own court holiday list. The free deadline calculator does the same count without an account, and the court holiday lists show which days come out of it in each jurisdiction.
Questions this page answers
What is on Freeboard's limitation date register?
Every task flagged as a limitation or critical date across the firm's files. Outstanding dates come first, soonest at the top, each with how it stands in words, the client, the file, what is due, the lawyer responsible and how many times the date has been moved. Dates flagged with no date recorded are listed separately, then the dates met in the last twelve months with the day each was marked done. It ends with who prepared it and when, and a line for a reviewer to sign and date.
Can a limitation date in Freeboard be changed without anyone knowing?
No. Once a date is marked as a limitation or critical date, only a lawyer, partner or administrator can move it or remove the flag, they have to give a reason, and every change is recorded with that reason, who made it and when. The rule is enforced by the database rather than by the form, and a calendar sync refuses to move a limitation date. The register counts the moves against each date and shows the reason for the last one.
Who can see the limitation date register?
Lawyers, partners and firm administrators. A confidential file the reader is not on the access list for does not appear on it, and the printed register says so above the signature line. Run by a firm administrator, it covers every file.
What happens to limitation dates imported from another system?
A hard due date imported without saying whether it is a limitation date arrives locked as one and marked unconfirmed, so it is protected from the start, and stays marked until a lawyer confirms it. A date the import file marks as ordinary arrives as ordinary.
Print one from the demo
The demonstration firm has invented files with limitation dates on them. The register is under Matters.
Sign in as dana@example.com, password freeboard-demo