Estate Planning

The Power of Checklists: In Life and in Practice

By Hull & Hull LLP

Everyone knows that you should make a list before going to the grocery store. If you do not, you will inevitably forget some essential basic that was not interesting enough to remember. It will be the very thing you went to the store for in the first place.

The same thing is true of checklists in your practice. Save time and angst with a comprehensive checklist that sets out the steps and considerations required – even on the simple, straight-forward files. The first time you do something, it is a learning experience. The next time is quicker and easier if you put your learning to good use. Do a post mortem: Write down the steps and think about what you could have done better, faster, more efficiently. What did you forget? What would you add? Follow your list to breeze through the next similar matter. Make lists once and, with a little maintenance, benefit for many files to come.  Have a look at the ILA checklist by Philip Epstein on the LawPRO website to get the general idea.  

If you are still not convinced, check out this article in the New Yorker about the sustained ability of simple checklists (wash hands, use sterile things) to virtually eliminate infection and dramatically reduce death rates and costs in intensive care units. Saving 1,500 lives and $175M in 18 months is nothing to sneeze at. 

If it works for doctors, it can work for lawyers, proving that anyone without an eidetic memory stands to benefit from a checklist. Since the vast majority of identified eidetikers are preadolescent children, chances are slim that you fit into this category. Total recall is not a learned skill and, even if it was, isn't just making and following a checklist a whole lot easier?

Next on your "to do" list:  Have a great weekend!

Sharon Davis

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on July 31, 2009 (boomark / email).