Docketing with Outlook 2003 part 1: Let Microsoft Outlook calculate dates for you

Hardly anyone — not even Google, according to the searches I did — knows Outlook can calculate dates. But the feature is a godsend for docketing, and one every legal secretary should know about.

This tip is for Microsoft Outlook 2003 specifically, although the feature is so simple, I suspect it will work for earlier versions, too.

In the new appointment creation window, simply click in the space next to the “Start time” date (make sure you don’t actually select the date, but that your cursor is in the space to the right of it), and enter a “+” or “-,” followed by the number of days, weeks or months relative to the date shown. For example:

Add 30 days to the current date: +30days
Add 2 weeks to the current date: +2weeks
Subtract 90 days from the current date: -90days

Whether you space over from the date, or put any spaces in the expression itself, doesn’t seem to matter.

Need to calculate the response date for a motion? Go to the date it was served (or filed, as your local rules dictate), open a new appointment window, click in the date field, and enter

+[number of days to respond]days

What to do when you have one of those maddening scheduling orders that, rather than spelling out all the dates, simply puts everything “X days prior to trial”? Open a blank appointment window, enter the trial date and calculate away.

If you’re a belt-and-suspenders type, you can use the date calculator on this nifty Web site as a backup/verification method.