Checklists every lawyer needs
In his article in Lawyers USA, Jim Calloway observes that while most lawyers use lists and checklists in their practice, they don't use them sufficient.
I agree.
Checklists can make you a better lawyer and make you more money. Checklists help lawyers
- Avoid mistakes
- Save time
- Reduce nervousness
- Impress clients
- Train temps/new hires, open a new office
- Increase profits
Every practice should have these checklists:
- How to open a new file (what goes in the file (and where), letters to send, what to give new client to take home, what to send them, what to calendar, etc.; your intake form is a checklist of information to question the client)
- How to close a file (final letters/documents, what to remove/give to client, what to scan, archiving, storage, destruct date)
- Handling leads/inquiries (what to say, what to do, what to offer, what to send, what to track)
- How to prepare documents (complaints, responses, motions; trusts, agreements, letters, etc.)
If you handle litigation, you need checklists for:
- Issues/causes of action
- Doable defenses
- Preparation of Complaint/Response
- Discovery (each element)
- Trial (pre-trial motions, other motions, evidence, witnesses, jury instructions, closing argument)
- Post-trial (motions, appeals, judgement, liens, bonds, collection)
- Settlement
For a transactional practice:
- Information to request
- Documents to request
- Documents to prepare
- Filing/registration fees
- Timeline
- Letters to clients
- Letters to others
As you can see, this is a very broad list, a house to start. Start with the simple and obvious; add more later. Eventually, you should have checklists for every aspect of your practice.
An additional benefit of making checklists is that in the process of making and updating them, you learn so much about what you and how you can do it better. Checklists will never exchange you–your experience, your intuition, your quick thinking–but they can make your job a lot simpler.
What checklists do you use in your practice? How have they helped you? What checklists will you place on your "to do" list?