File Notes: Recording Legal Instructions and Decisions

Record Instructions, Authority and Evidence Decisions

A file note is a contemporaneous matter record of a conversation, attendance or decision. Record the participants, event and purpose, then the instructions received and advice given. Include the client’s response, the limits of their authority and the next action with its responsible person.

Queensland Law Society’s file-note guidance addresses the content, timing and integrity of these records. It is Queensland good-practice guidance, not legislation. Recording and production rules depend on the jurisdiction and forum.

Consider this fictional matter. Client Alex Morgan speaks with solicitor Priya Shah about a $12,000 transfer shown on statement S-04, page 3. Alex believes former business partner Jordan Lee took the money without permission. The note keeps each part of the discussion separate.

An incorrect entry would say, “The former partner stole $12,000.” The supported entry records Alex’s allegation and the debit separately. The source supports the transaction amount. The allegation’s truth remains unresolved.

Use a Structure Another Practitioner Can Follow

Use the same note structure across the matter so a reviewer can find instructions without reconstructing the conversation. Capture the context before recording the outcome.

1. Identify the matter and author. Include the file reference, note-taker’s name and responsible practitioner. Keep the event date and time separate from the note’s preparation date and time.
2. Record the attendance. Name each participant and their role, the communication method and the purpose of the discussion. Identify anyone who joined or left before a decision.
3. Describe the discussion in sequence. Attribute statements to their speaker and reference documents by identifier and page. Preserve material qualifications and unresolved disagreements.
4. Record advice and decisions separately. State the substance of the advice, the client’s response and the exact scope of any authority given.
5. Assign follow-up. Name the person responsible, the required timing and any instruction or document still needed. Put consequential deadlines into the matter’s task system as well.

The distinction between quotation, summary and inference must remain visible. In the fictional matter, an exact quotation could read, “Alex said: ‘Please request the transfer details from my bank, but speak to me before contacting Jordan.’” Use quotation marks only if the wording was captured accurately. Reference the original attendance record beside it.

A summary could read, “Alex authorised a bank enquiry and reserved the decision about contacting Jordan.” Label that wording as a summary. An inference could read, “Priya’s inference: Alex wants further information before deciding whether to approach Jordan.” The inference records Priya’s interpretation and cannot expand the authority Alex gave.

Use the file note template to organise the record. Before filing, ask a colleague to identify the authorised action and its owner from the note alone. If they cannot, clarify the record against its source.

Check AI File Notes Against Their Source

AI file notes need a practitioner’s source check before they become the filed instruction record. An organised draft can still change the meaning of a conversation.

The Law Society of South Australia’s AI guidance requires professional judgement to remain with the practitioner. It recommends checking outputs against client instructions and source documents, with appropriate supervision. It also addresses confidentiality controls and recording how AI output was reviewed.

Use these checks on an AI-assisted draft.

The responsible practitioner must verify instructions and authority against the original recording or contemporaneous record before filing the note. For a meeting summary, involve the practitioner who attended. A polished transcript alone cannot resolve a disputed speaker or missing condition.

If the source is unclear, seek clarification from the client and record that later exchange separately. Keep the unresolved point visible until then. Record who reviewed the draft and which source they used. The legal transcription and dictation guide covers the underlying audio-to-text workflow.

Before recording a meeting or sharing client information with a capture service, establish the applicable recording rules, required consent and the firm’s approved data-handling arrangements.

Choose Capture and Filing Controls

Choose file notes software by testing whether the matter team can retrieve the reviewed record with its supporting material. Quick capture saves drafting time. Approval and filing establish which version the team can act on.

Use a fictional matter to test each control before introducing a system to client work.

• Associate the note with a unique matter identifier. Search for it from the matter file without relying on the author’s personal account.
• Check access with an authorised colleague and a user who must not see the matter. Inspect access to attachments as well as the note.
• Attach a source document and link to the relevant page or recording segment. Confirm the references still work when another authorised user opens them.
• Make a correction and inspect the history. Check whether it preserves the previous wording and identifies the editor and time of the change.
• Search for a participant and a distinctive instruction. Confirm the results distinguish the approved note from an earlier draft.
• Export the note, attachments and correction history. Open the export outside the capture system and check that its text and source references remain readable.

Queensland Law Society’s file-management guidance recommends chronological communications and a standard saving protocol for paperless practices. Apply that consistency to exports too. Store the approved record in the matter’s controlled filing location so a change of capture tool does not leave the only usable copy behind.

For the source file’s properties and provenance, use the document metadata guide. Metadata complements the authored note but does not identify an instruction’s meaning or scope.

Correct and Retain the Note Transparently

Correct a filed note through an identifiable amendment or addendum that preserves the original wording. A later recollection needs its own preparation date and an explanation of the delay. Never present it as a note made at the event.

Lawcover’s guidance on file notes explains their role when oral instructions or advice are later disputed. It also recommends retaining originals, or at least copies, when transferring files.

Use this correction sequence when the record needs an amendment.

1. Retain the original note and its source. Identify the version being corrected before making a change.
2. Create a dated addendum. Record its author, the affected passage and the reason for the correction. Leave the correction-date field empty until the correction is actually made.
3. State the corrected wording and its basis. Identify whether it comes from the original source, later client clarification or the author’s later recollection.
4. Have the responsible practitioner review the amendment. If authority changed, identify the new instruction and when it was received.
5. File the amendment with the original and notify the matter team. Update affected tasks and check that the current view exposes the correction and retained source.

For Alex’s fictional matter, a later instruction authorising contact with Jordan belongs in a new attendance note. It does not replace the earlier restriction. Another practitioner opening the matter must be able to follow that change before acting.