Action Item Tracker

Pull every commitment, deliverable, and follow-up from a meeting transcript into a tracked action registry.

When to use it

Use after partner meetings, client meetings, settlement conferences, and case-strategy sessions to make sure no commitment falls through the cracks. The output is structured for handoff to project management software or paralegal task lists.

The prompt

Copy the prompt below, paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or your firm's preferred LLM, then paste your transcript where the placeholder indicates.

Extract and organize all action items, commitments, and follow-up requirements from this meeting transcript:

## Action Item Registry

For each task identified, create an entry with:

**Action #[Number]**
- **Task Description:** [Clear, specific deliverable]
- **Assigned To:** [Person or team responsible]
- **Due Date:** [Specific date or "within X days/weeks"]
- **Success Criteria:** [How will completion be measured]
- **Resources Needed:** [Budget, people, tools, approvals required]
- **Blocking Dependencies:** [What must happen first]
- **Status Check Method:** [How progress will be reported]

## Commitment Categories

**Immediate Actions (Next 7 Days):**
[List urgent items with owners and deadlines]

**Short-term Deliverables (1-4 Weeks):**
[List project milestones and interim deadlines]

**Long-term Initiatives (1+ Months):**
[List strategic projects and major deliverables]

## Cross-Dependencies Map
Identify where one action item depends on completion of others:
- [Action A] must complete before [Action B] can begin
- [Person X] needs deliverable from [Person Y] by [date]

## Follow-Up Schedule
Recommend check-in meetings or status updates based on the timeline:
- **Weekly check-ins needed for:** [high-risk or urgent items]
- **Bi-weekly reviews for:** [standard project work]
- **Monthly reviews for:** [long-term strategic initiatives]

## Potential Issues Flagged
Based on discussion tone and content, identify:
- Unclear ownership or scope
- Unrealistic deadlines mentioned
- Resource conflicts or constraints noted
- Previous missed commitments referenced

Meeting transcript:
[PASTE YOUR TRANSCRIPT HERE]

How to use it well

Best run on meeting transcripts where commitments are spread throughout the conversation rather than concentrated at the end.
The "Potential Issues Flagged" section is often the most valuable part — surfaces vague commitments you can clarify before the meeting fades from memory.
For settlement conferences and mediations, this prompt makes settlement-term capture much more reliable than note-taking alone.
Output is well-suited for direct paste into Asana, Jira, Trello, or Clio task lists — task / owner / deadline format ports cleanly.

Expected output

A numbered action item registry with owner, deadline, success criteria, and dependencies; categorized by urgency; flagged for ambiguous ownership or unrealistic deadlines.

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Frequently asked questions

Does this work for settlement conferences and mediations?

Yes — particularly well. Settlement discussions generate dispersed commitments throughout the conversation that are easy to miss in note-taking. The prompt extracts every commitment with owner, deadline, and dependencies, then flags anything ambiguous for clarification before the conversation fades from memory.

Will it flag unrealistic deadlines?

Yes. The Potential Issues Flagged section identifies unrealistic deadlines, unclear ownership, and resource conflicts noted in the discussion — typically more candid than people remember being.

Can the output go directly into project management tools?

Yes. The action / owner / deadline / dependencies format ports cleanly into Asana, Jira, Trello, Clio, and similar tools. For Clio specifically, the structured deadlines map well to matter-level task lists.