The matter record
The matter command center, its tabs, participants and assignments, sensitivity, and the matter lifecycle from open to close.
For: AttorneyStaff
On this page
A matter is the firm's record of one piece of legal work for a client. Everything about it (people, facts, documents, communications, deadlines, appointments, filings, notices, work, decisions, billing, notes and the audit trail) hangs off the one record.
Opening a matter
Most matters open automatically when an engagement is signed, if the firm has turned that on. To open one by hand, for example for a paper engagement or a matter you are importing, choose New matter (Attorney workspace, or ⌘K and New matter). You need matter-write permission.
The form has five parts: Client (with the person's signed engagements), Matter (practice area, matter type from the firm's service catalog, office, urgency and sensitivity), Team (responsible attorney, supervising attorney and pod), Participants and Summary. If a similar open matter already exists for the client, LegalBook warns you; creating it anyway needs a confirmation and an explanation, which is kept as a note.
The matter command center
Attorneys and staff with full access open a matter in the matter command center. The header always shows the firm, the matter number, the client and the matter's status. A rail on the right shows what is Blocking, what Needs you and the Pinned notes; on narrower screens it folds into a Status sheet.
The tabs:
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Overview | Status, stage, milestones and what needs attention |
| Workflow | The matter's running workflows and their history |
| Timeline | Everything that happened, in order |
| People | Participants and assignments |
| Documents | The matter's documents and requests |
| Forms/Data | Facts and questionnaire answers |
| Communications | Calls, texts, emails and portal messages |
| Deadlines | Deadlines and their verification state |
| Appointments | Appointments for this matter |
| Filings | Filing packages and receipts |
| Notices | Notices matched to this matter |
| Tasks/Work | Work items for this matter |
| Decisions | Attorney decisions |
| QA | Quality reviews of work on this matter |
| Billing | Fee agreement, invoices and payments |
| Notes | Internal notes (and attorney-only notes for those allowed) |
| Audit | Who did what on this matter |
Keyboard: 1 to 9 and 0 open the first ten tabs, Shift+1 to Shift+7 the rest, [ and ] move between tabs, g o overview, g n notes, g d decisions, a the Actions menu and r record a decision.
The Actions menu holds Change status…, Set urgency / risk…, Change office…, Change sensitivity…, Manage access…, Record decision…, Add note, Print summary, Export, Request file export… and Transfer.
Different views for different roles
Not everyone sees the command center. A production worker on a work item sees the production matter view: only what the item needs (context, people, facts, documents, notices, filings, timeline). Reception sees a reduced card. A firm administrator on a restricted matter they are not on sees the header, assignments and audit only.
If you open a matter you may not see, LegalBook says the same thing it says for a matter that does not exist.
Participants and assignments
Participants are people in the matter: client, petitioner, beneficiary, derivative, sponsor, joint sponsor, household member, employer, opposing party, witness, interpreter, guardian, representative, co-counsel and other.
Assignments are the firm's team: responsible attorney, supervising attorney, case coordinator, case processor, paralegal, external counsel and pod. A matter has at most one responsible attorney, one supervising attorney and one pod at a time. Attorney assignments need an attorney role.
Sensitivity
A matter is normal, restricted or attorney-only.
- Restricted matters are visible only to people with a reason to see them.
- Attorney-only matters need an attorney assignment or an explicit access grant. Moving a matter to or from attorney-only needs an attorney role or the firm owner, and a recent sign-in, so an administrator cannot remove the designation to read the file.
- Manage access… grants a named person access for a limited time. Grants are audited.
The matter lifecycle
A matter moves through Draft, Open, Active, On hold and Ready to close, and ends Closed, Declined, Withdrawn or Transferred. A closed matter can be reopened.
Use Change status…. The dialog offers only the changes allowed from the current status for your role, explains the consequences, asks for a reason where needed and asks you to type the matter number for close, decline, withdraw and transfer out. Closing, declining, withdrawing, transferring and reopening need matter-close permission; declining needs an attorney decision. A support session acting on someone's behalf can never close, reopen or transfer a matter.
A matter with no progress for the firm's threshold is flagged no progress and appears on the attorney home.
Notes
Notes are internal (staff) or attorney-only. Attorney-only notes are never shown in search results or to the client. Notes can be pinned. Draft notes are saved in your browser under your own sign-in, never shared with the next person at a shared desk.