Personal Injury Law Records Documentation

---
name: personal-injury-law-records-documentation
description: |
  Create and maintain accurate, auditable records for work with clients injured in accidents or through negligence.
  TRIGGERS - Use when a personal injury solicitor needs a records & documentation for clients injured in accidents or through negligence in a law firm.
category: Personal Injury Law
license: MIT
version: 1.0
---
# Records & Documentation — Personal Injury Law

Create and maintain accurate, auditable records for work with clients injured in accidents or through negligence. The deliverable is a documentation standard, templates and a completed record set.
This skill is written for a personal injury solicitor working with clients injured in accidents or through negligence in a law firm.

## When to use
- You are a personal injury solicitor preparing, delivering or reviewing this part of your work in a law firm.
- You need a defensible, repeatable approach that produces a documentation standard, templates and a completed record set.
- A colleague, auditor or client asks how this was done and what evidence supports it.

## Key Concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| Limitation | the legal deadline for starting a claim |
| Schedule of loss | a document listing the financial losses claimed |
| Liability | legal responsibility for the injury |

## Workflow
1. **Step 1** - Use claim files as the single source of truth; record facts, observations and decisions — not speculation
2. **Step 2** - Write entries contemporaneously where possible, dated and attributable, in the format a law firm requires
3. **Step 3** - Record measurements and outcomes that feed claim settlement values exactly as observed, with units and method noted
4. **Step 4** - Store and share records under the confidentiality and retention rules that apply in a law firm, guarding against limitation deadlines missed
5. **Step 5** - Audit a sample of records monthly for completeness and correct anything missing while the work is still current

## Profession-Specific Components
| Component | Details for Personal Injury Law |
|-----------|-------------------------------|
| Core documentation | claim files; medical evidence; loss schedules; settlement records |
| Core tools & equipment | case management systems; medical reporting portals; costs software; rehabilitation networks |
| People involved | clients injured in accidents or through negligence; the personal injury solicitor; colleagues and other services in a law firm |
| Primary record | claim files — keep it current, dated and attributable |

## Output Format
**Context:** [Situation in a law firm] | **Objective:** [What this must achieve] | **Audience:** [clients injured in accidents or through negligence and other stakeholders]

The finished output is a documentation standard, templates and a completed record set, structured as:
1. Summary of position and evidence
2. Detail, following the workflow above
3. Decisions, actions, owners and dates
4. Review point and escalation route

### Action Plan
1. **Immediate:** Confirm scope, consent and the evidence available in claim files.
2. **Short-term:** Complete the workflow steps and record outcomes against claim settlement values.
3. **Medium-term:** Review results, close actions, and update local procedures in a law firm.

## Success Metrics
| Metric | Target | Method |
|--------|--------|--------|
| claim settlement values | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from claim files and reviewed on a set cycle |
| case duration | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from claim files and reviewed on a set cycle |
| rehabilitation access speed | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from claim files and reviewed on a set cycle |
| client satisfaction | Agree a local target and track the trend | Measured from claim files and reviewed on a set cycle |

## Guardrails & Quality Checks
- Never let this happen: limitation deadlines missed.
- Never let this happen: evidence lost.
- Never let this happen: under-settlement of claims.
- Work only within the competence and authority of a personal injury solicitor; escalate or refer anything beyond it.
- Record facts and observations, not speculation, and keep records confidential to a law firm's rules.
- Verify names, dates, figures and measurements twice before anything is issued or signed off.
- Use only real, verified information from the case in hand — never invent results, credentials or evidence.

## Example (illustrative)
A personal injury solicitor in a law firm applies this workflow for clients injured in accidents or through negligence: they open
claim files, work through the five steps using case management systems, and close by recording
the outcome against claim settlement values and agreeing the next review date. (Illustrative example only —
replace with the real details of the case in hand.)