Perhaps it’s my OCD, or being a nerd (I do know, stunning), or being a management freak (did I point out my OCD), however I’m an enormous proponent of decreasing the varieties of instances you deal with to a sequence of checklists and workflows. Regardless of how advanced or different your instances are, or their amount, making a written, step-by-step course of for dealing with every kind of case will enhance effectivity, high quality management, and outcomes.
This strategy – decreasing your caseload to a set of processes that function a software to make sure you contemplate all the assorted strategies and steps in your instances – is commonly neglected as a result of it’s time-consuming, non-billable, and requires common assessment and updates (these checklists have to be reviewed and up to date periodically). Moreover, some attorneys imagine their instances are too advanced to be diminished to step-by-step processes. What they do is so distinctive, so mental, that it can not probably be diminished to checklists. And sure, we aren’t automatons, and we can not merely observe resolution timber robotically. Nevertheless, I might argue that, no matter complexity, 50-90% of each case could be diminished to checklists. And that merely the hassle to take a look at your instances and write out the way you deal with them from starting to finish will make you a greater lawyer.
I deal with quite a lot of litigation-based issues. All through my profession, I’ve litigated a variety of instances, from asbestos to zoning, and all the things in between. And early in my profession, I checked out my instances from the vantage level of – what’s each potential factor I can do within the case and what is sensible underneath completely different units of circumstances. And I wrote out checklists. Not only for me, however for everybody on the crew, to make sure we have been all transferring in the appropriate route, pursuing the right targets, and advancing the shopper’s aims. As I dealt with extra of the identical issues, I refined my checklists to accommodate my rising expertise and information.
For those who can see your complete instances, from pre-suit by trial, you’re taking these actions that advance your targets (and refraining from those who don’t). If, conversely, you’re counting on what’s in your head about techniques, steps, and approaches, you’ll probably miss a number of essential elements of your case.
So, how do you scale back your issues to a sequence of checklists?
First, outline the completely different issues you deal with. If all you deal with is litigation, then there might be a whole lot of transferable to-do lists from one kind of matter to a different (serving discovery and third-party subpoenas, retaining specialists, deposing events, and so on.). For me, my record would come with, amongst different objects, business litigation (breach of contract, non-competes, IP, and so on.), private damage (trucking, auto, premises, negligent safety), merchandise (one-off merchandise, drug & medical gadget, poisonous tort, and so on.), and so forth.
Second, I might then take my classes and create a workflow for every, writing out every step, side, and off-ramp of that case. I might actually kind each little and massive factor I can do when dealing with that kind of matter right into a Phrase doc — the extra steps, the extra to-dos, the extra checklists, the extra element, the higher.
Third, I might share it with my crew for his or her enter, and ask them so as to add, revise, and increase these lists.
Fourth, each time I began on a brand new matter, I might share the suitable record for the right case and have everybody kind their notes into this doc in regards to the steps being adopted, taken, or, for that matter, averted. This doc will function a single supply of knowledge, serving to everybody preserve monitor of what has been carried out and what stays to be carried out. This works no matter aspect of the “V” you’re on.
Fifth, the best way we deal with instances evolves, and these checklists might be up to date throughout the litigation course of to mirror that.
Is that this a whole lot of work? Sure. Plenty of non-billable work? Sure. However these checklists will preserve you and your crew centered on what must be carried out, when, and the way. With out such controls, you’re continuously reminding your self and your crew what to do subsequent. This reduces pointless management and micro supervision of your issues.
Take into account this strategy not simply in your issues, however for all of your agency’s issues, to enhance effectivity, keep away from errors, and improve outcomes.
Frank Ramos is a associate at Goldberg Segalla in Miami, the place he practices business litigation, merchandise, and catastrophic private damage. You possibly can observe him on LinkedIn, the place he has about 80,000 followers.
