Career Planning Worksheet

How to use this resource

Use the checklist at matter setup and again at the point of execution. Assign an owner to each item, record exceptions and approvals, and keep the completed version with the matter documentation.

1. Define the objective

Record the legal, investigative or operational question the activity must answer. Identify the relevant matter, jurisdictions, stakeholders, deadlines and any assumptions that still need testing.

2. Confirm scope

Identify relevant custodians, systems, date ranges, data types and exclusions. Distinguish what must be preserved from what must actually be collected, processed, reviewed or produced.

3. Select the method

Choose a method proportionate to the source and evidential need. Record why that method was selected, what it captures, what it does not capture and any technical constraints.

4. Protect integrity and context

Preserve relevant metadata, relationships, conversation context, parent-child links and other attributes needed to understand the information. Use secure transfer and access controls.

5. Validate the result

Reconcile counts and expected sources, review exceptions, sample outputs, verify critical metadata and record any remediation. A process is stronger when the team can show how completeness and accuracy were checked.

6. Quality-control before release

Confirm that required approvals are complete and that the deliverable matches the agreed specification. Escalate unresolved privilege, privacy, security or evidential issues.

7. Record lessons

At closure, capture what worked, what caused delay or rework and which data-source or workflow knowledge should improve the organisation’s next matter.