When it comes to claims and litigation management, the specific “rules of the road” likely depend on the individualized experience of the claims or litigation manager.

However, there are several general rules we can examine that are critical to success: 1. Write your claims notes like you may get abducted by aliens on the way to your deposition. We all take notes in a way that speaks to us, which makes sense.

From grade school, we are told to take notes so that we will be able to reference and recall the information later. The notes act as an external hard drive for what should be in our brain, or central processing unit (CPU), and we format them in a way that speaks to our internal hard drive.

However, claims notes are multifunctional. First, the notes should reflect a picture or snapshot—the proverbial who, what, when, where, and why. Second, they should provide sufficient detail so that the picture can be gleaned by multiple people, including co-workers and potential third parties.

It is not enough that the notes conjure the picture in your head because you may not be available when the notes are consulted, analyzed, or critiqued.