In elementary school, you likely learned about why taking good notes was important. You needed to remember what your teacher said, and just the act of taking down notes helps you remember content with ease. But as a legal professional, the importance of good notes does not end once you receive a degree. For attorneys and paralegals, note taking can be a skill critical to a firm’s success.
Why are notes important for law firms?
There are numerous ways a well-crafted note can help your firm. If a member of your intake staff is speaking with a claimant for the first time over the phone or in-person, your staff will need to be able to take good notes to later determine whether the case is perusable.
If you’re discussing a hearing with a claimant, you’ll also need to take notes on what strategies will likely work best with your specific claimant. If you neglect to take any notes, you may find that the hearing does not go as smoothly as possible.
Finally, when multiple paralegals work on one claim, notes will be critical for success. If a member of your intake staff reaches out to a lead but forgets to write down notes about the phone call, another paralegal may waste his or her time by calling your client again.
How can you learn to take good notes?
Some people are born note-takers. They wake up with a pen and highlighter in hand, ready to mark up margins with comments and insights. Unfortunately, many of us struggle to take cohesive notes. Here are a couple of ways you can improve your note-taking strategy:
1. Listen before writing.
If you listen to what a claimant is saying before you write or type anything down, you can gather your thoughts and put down something far more helpful than desperately trying to write down what he or she says mid-sentence.
2. Be concise.
When interviewing an initial applicant, you’ll be given a wealth of information about the claim, whether it’s the illness a Social Security disability claimant is afflicted with, or the situation in which a personal injury claimant slipped and fell in the super market. The more concise and to the point your notes are, the easier it will be to jog your memory later.
3. Use technology that’s available.
There is a wealth of new technology that can help you take better notes. Dictation software is everywhere, from new pens to your smartphone. If you prefer the feeling of physically writing, many tablets will let you write with a stylus and then convert the text into typed font. Case management software will also record your notes for further review.
Taking decent notes can take time to learn. Fortunately, there are resources you can use to cut down on time taking notes. eLuminate, eGenerationMarketing’s case management software, has the ability to generate time-stamped notes automatically every time you send an email to a claimant or contact. You can even search through these notes to pull up records of conversations from years ago. If you’re interested in learning more about how eLuminate can help you cut corners with your note taking, give us a call today at 617.800.0089.