Do You Want To Know a Secret? When it comes to managing your calendar, regardless of the nature of your practice, you cannot simply Let It Be. You must proactively maintain an accurate and useful calendar and tickler system to effectively manage your practice, meet deadlines, and avoid malpractice claims. And while we unfortunately don’t have that extra day in our week, monitoring and maintaining your calendar every day is crucial to a successful (and hopefully claim-free) law practice.

Consider implementing these Fab Four tips to Help! take control of your calendar – and your life! –

• With A Little Help From My Friends – It is crucial that your legal support staff appreciates how important accurate calendaring is because your name and reputation are on the line if something is missed. Develop a system where you double check the deadlines and hearing dates your assistant enters. For example, when you receive a Case Management Order, have your assistant calendar the dates and write them on the Order. Then, take the time to check them yourself.
• Come Together – If you are working with multiple attorneys on a file, make sure that everyone has the same dates on their calendar. While this might go without saying, coordinating dates along with expectations about when draft pleadings are due for review before a court-ordered deadline will help everyone’s workflow and ensure you do not needlessly run up against a deadline. 
• Tell Me Why – To be user-friendly and effective, your calendar entries should make sense to everyone on your team. Consider using a consistent formula, such as the file number, case name (or party you represent), and an explanation of the deadline so there is no confusion about the who/what/when of the entries.
• Don’t Let Me Down – For busy litigators, trial settings can come and go or stack up quickly. Be sure to communicate when cases settle or trial dates are reset, so everyone on your team can plan accordingly. Whether dates open up for other court dates or your paralegal’s vacation, maintaining an up-to-date calendar will help you keep your cases moving forward and perhaps allow someone to schedule a few days off when they no longer have to be available for trial. 

While you may initially think these practices will be too time consuming to add in your already busy schedule, thoughtfully managing your calendar can also serve as an opportunity to update (and appropriately bill) your clients. ABA Model Rule 1.4(a)(3) requires that you keep your clients reasonably informed about the status of their cases. So, when you are reviewing your calendar, dictate letters to your clients about any recent developments, date changes, or your strategy for next steps. Meaningful updates will more than likely be well-received by your clients.

Avoid the Helter Skelter of a useless calendaring system. Instead, Imagine the peace of mind you can experience when you develop protocols that best suit your practice and help avoid a dreaded grievance or claim because you missed a hearing or filing deadline.