Using AI for Attendance Notes and Conferences (Without Losing Nuance)

Attendance notes and conference notes are where nuance lives in a case:

what the client sounded like when they said something;
where they hesitated or seemed unsure;
how counsel reacted to a particular point.

AI tools can help draft and refine notes more quickly – but if you are not careful, they can also flatten nuance or introduce errors.

This article looks at ways to use AI for attendance and conference notes in UK practice without losing the human layer.

1. Decide what the note is for

A good note is not a transcript. Its purpose might be to:

record instructions;
capture advice given;
support later drafting (pleadings, witness statements, settlement strategy);
protect the firm if there is later a complaint or allegation.

Before using AI, be clear:

Are you trying to shorten a long rough note?
Turn bullet points into full sentences?
Extract actions and deadlines?

The clearer the task, the easier it is to check whether the AI output is fit for purpose.

2. Safer patterns for AI-assisted notes

Pattern A: From rough notes to structured record

You might:

type or dictate a rough note during or immediately after the meeting;
then ask AI to:
- tidy language;
- organise content into headings (Background, Issues, Advice, Next Steps);
- highlight questions that still need answers.

You remain responsible for ensuring:

nothing important has been dropped;
nuance is preserved where it matters (“client very distressed”, “client reluctant but agreed”).

Pattern B: From transcript to summary

Where you have a transcript (for example, from a recorded conference with counsel), AI can:

produce a shorter, structured note;
identify key advice points;
list undertakings and agreed actions.

You should:

skim the transcript for any moments where tone or emphasis matters;
make sure the summary does not oversimplify tricky advice (“might” becoming “will”, etc.);
ensure any disagreements or uncertainties are recorded, not smoothed away.

Pattern C: Extracting actions and follow-ups

AI can scan a note or transcript and propose:

tasks for the legal team;
tasks for the client;
deadlines and dependencies.

These can then be turned into matter tasks in your case management system, with owners and due dates.

3. Guardrails to protect privilege and confidentiality

Attendance notes and conference notes are often heavily privileged and sensitive.

To protect them:

use only approved AI tools under your AI/confidentiality policy;
avoid pasting notes into consumer chatbots;
prefer systems where processing is done:
- within your existing document environment; or
- in a segregated, contractually controlled cloud.

Where tools allow, keep AI processing inside your case management system so that:

notes never leave the secure environment;
prompts and outputs are logged;
privilege and confidentiality are easier to explain if challenged.

4. Make human judgment visible in the file

AI can help with language and structure, but:

only you can decide what is material;
only you know which parts of a discussion worried you;
only you can capture impressions that matter for strategy.

To keep that visible:

add your own short commentary sections (“My impression of the client…”, “Counsel seemed doubtful about…”);
separate objective record from subjective assessment in headings;
note where you have deliberately included or excluded detail.

Supervisors reading the note should be able to see both the cleaned-up narrative and your own thinking.

5. Accountability and supervision

For AI-assisted notes:

record who drafted and who reviewed;
keep previous versions where appropriate, so you can see what changed;
encourage juniors to flag where they were unsure whether AI had misinterpreted something.

Partners can then:

dip into underlying transcripts or rough notes if something looks odd;
spot patterns where AI is consistently missing points (for example, nuances in cross-cultural conversations);
update guidance and prompts accordingly.

Where OrdoLux fits

OrdoLux is being developed so that:

attendance notes and conference notes sit at the heart of the matter file;
AI can help structure and summarise notes inside OrdoLux, without copy-paste into external tools;
follow-up tasks from notes can be turned into actionable items with owners and deadlines;
supervisors can see the link between notes, advice given, and later pleadings or settlement steps.

The goal is for AI to help you capture more of what happened, more clearly, while keeping your professional judgment – and your client’s privilege – firmly intact.

This article is general information for practitioners — not legal advice.

Looking for legal case management software?

OrdoLux is legal case management software for UK solicitors, designed to make matter management, documents, time recording and AI assistance feel like one joined-up system. Learn more on the OrdoLux website.