Working as a team
One researcher builds the matter. The whole team cites from it.
No server needed. The matter travels as one file — the record, the authorities, their files, short forms and tags — and every teammate opens it with the same numbers, on Mac or Windows.
- Writer · Mac
- Writer · Windows
- Writer · Mac
Two roles
Decide at the start who keeps the matter. Everyone else writes.
The researcher
Keeps the matter: imports the problem and the record, adds the authorities with their files, gives each its short form and tags — and is the only one who adds or changes documents. Shares a new copy whenever something was added.
The writers
Import the researcher’s copy, write their part of the memorial in Word and cite from it. Missing an authority? They ask the researcher instead of adding it themselves.
Why only one person adds documents
Every document has its place in the matter, and every citation in Word points to that place. When one person adds the documents, the places are the same in every copy — so the citations of the whole team fit together in the final memorial. If two people added documents in their own copies, the same place could hold two different documents.
Step by step
Build the matter
The researcher creates the moot matter — LitArbi sets it up for your competition — imports the problem and its exhibits, and adds the authorities with their files, each with the short form you cite it by (Inspector ▸ Cited as).
Share it as one file
LitArbi saves the whole matter in one file: the database, every document’s details and the files it keeps in the matter.
Send it
Any way you share files: the university drive, OneDrive or Google Drive, AirDrop, a USB stick. Expect it to be large — it holds every PDF.
Import it
Each writer imports the file. The matter appears among their matters with the same numbers, short forms and tags — on Mac or on Windows.
Write and cite
Everyone writes their part in Word and cites from their own copy. Writers don’t add or change documents: they tell the researcher what is missing.
Bring everyone up to date
The researcher adds what was missing and shares again. Writers import the new file — it arrives as a new copy beside the old one: work in the newest and remove the old one. The citations already in your Word text keep working.
Put the memorial together
Paste the parts into one Word document, open it with the newest copy of the matter and update: every citation is refreshed. The Index of Authorities is built from all parts; Prepare for Filing makes the copy you submit.
Good to know
- No live sync
- A copy doesn’t change by itself: the newest file is the newest matter. Put the date in its name — “Vis 2026–27 · 14 November”.
- The same LitArbi everywhere
- Keep LitArbi up to date on every computer (Check for Updates…), so every copy works the same way.
- Mac and Windows together
- A matter shared from a Mac opens on Windows and back, with every number intact.
- One team key
- The key runs on as many computers as you applied for. Each teammate activates it with the team’s email address and the key.
- The files travel with it
- Documents LitArbi copied into the matter go into the file. If the matter’s files live in an outside folder, LitArbi asks you to move them back before you share.
- Everything is in it
- Notes, summaries and tags travel with the matter — share the file only within your team and with your coach.
- At the end of the season
- Pass your authorities on to next year’s team: one file, imported the same way.
One file, one set of numbers, one memorial.
Free for the season — for every computer your team applies for.