Documentation Documentation Documentation

-What did you know? -When did you know it? -What did you do? -What did they do? Lawsuits involve disputes of fact. Many professional liability lawsuits and employment practices allegations involve the answers to the above four questions. Immediate written documentation of events is your best line of defense against allegations of wrongdoing. The rule to follow is, in a lawsuit, it doesn't matter what you say in court. If you didn't write it down at the time of the event, it did not happen. An employee come in late for the third time in a week and you reprimand him, write down the facts and what was said by whom to whom. A customer asks for a change in the contract, write it down. You interview a job applicant or have a conversation with someone seeking a reference, write up the details. It only takes a minute to log events and conversations. The de-tails will save your tail.