Note Taking on Trial: A Legal Application of Note-Taking Research

This article is about note taking, but it is not an exhaustive review of note-taking literature. Instead, it portrays the application of note-taking research to an unusual and important area of practice—the law. I was hired to serve as an expert witness on note taking in a legal case that hinged, in part, on the completeness and accuracy of handwritten meeting notes. Based on my own research and that of others, I rendered three opinions about handwritten notes: (a) They omit most of what is said, (b) they omit details, context, and essential qualifiers, and (c) they contain inaccuracies or vague statements. This article tells the story of how I came to investigate note taking, become an expert witness, and render those three opinions. It concludes with a call to investigate note taking in non-academic settings such as meetings and to uncover ways to boost and improve note-taking methods.