Document, Document, Document

Today’s Tip: think of the word “document” as a verb.

With legal research, it is a frequent event to have someone ask how you found an answer. This often happens when an answer is “there is no reported case law on that topic”. Especially when the search result is nothing, it is really important to plot your research path and be prepared to share exactly what the path was.

My method for this is to provide research results in memo form, even for short simple tasks. Research memos should have a detailed sources consulted section that includes granular details like the database or template and search language used.

The best thing about documenting your search path this way is the ability to reuse or build on your prior work.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to comment.