Work items and queues
What a work item is, how routing offers it to the right person, leases and allowed actions, and doing the work.
For: OwnerStaff
On this page
Every unit of work a firm needs done is a work item: a call, a callback, an intake, a document to validate, a form to prepare, a packet to assemble, a translation, an attorney review. A work item belongs to one firm, sits in a queue, has a service-level clock, and lists exactly what the person working it may do.
Work item types
LegalBook ships 28 work item types. Examples: call, callback, intake, conflict review, appointment scheduling, client communication, document request, document validation, correspondence classification, form preparation, declaration drafting support, translation, evidence organization, research support, packet assembly, filing preparation, filing submission, receipt tracking, status inquiry, deadline verification, attorney review, signature collection, payment follow-up, QA review, rework, complaint escalation and closeout.
Each type sets its queue, its service level, its QA mode, whether an attorney gate applies, the minimum role and the allowed actions. Firms adjust types in Configuration → Work types. Every type's defaults are marked as needing attorney or operations review before go-live.
Queues
A queue collects work of a kind: reception, intake, client service, document, correspondence, production, attorney, billing, QA. A queue can belong to the firm as a whole, to one office, or be a shared pool that serves several firms.
Supervisors see queues in Queues, with an Office filter. A queue can be paused, resumed or archived.
Routing
When a work item is created, routing picks its queue and who may work it, by:
- skill (for example Immigration consultation intake),
- language,
- practice area,
- office (the matter's office first, then a firm-wide queue),
- authorization for the firm,
- capacity and current availability.
Every routing decision is stored with its explanation. On a work item, routing shows why it went where it did. Firms set routing rules in Configuration → Routing.
Offers and leases
Work reaches a person in one of two ways:
- Offer: LegalBook offers the next item to an available, eligible person (longest idle first). Accept or decline it. Declining puts you on a short cool-off for that item.
- Take next: on Home or Queue, choose Take next (press n). Why this order? explains the order.
Once you hold an item, you hold its lease. Only the lease holder can change it. The lease is kept alive while you are active on the screen; if you go idle, disconnect or your shift ends, the lease expires and the item goes back to its queue with your draft kept. If someone else now holds an item you were working, you see who holds it and can reload or claim it again.
Allowed actions
The actions you may take on an item are fixed when the item is created, from its type: for example submit, record a fact, request a document, schedule an appointment, send a client message, validate a document, propose a deadline. Every item can also be released, noted, timed and escalated.
Doing the work
Open an item from Home or Queue. The work item workspace shows:
- the firm (from the item itself, never from what you last had open),
- the context the item needs and nothing more,
- the procedure for this type,
- the evidence and the structured output to complete,
- notes, effort, block and escalate,
- Submit or Complete.
Drafts save every 20 seconds and when you leave a field. Items that need review go to Submitted, then QA or an attorney gate as the type requires.
Work item states
Created, Ready, Reserved, In progress, Blocked, Submitted, QA review, Returned for rework, Escalated, and finally Completed, Canceled or Expired. A Failed item can be retried.
The production home
Home in the Production workspace is where a worker starts and ends a shift: current and assigned items across every firm they serve, next-best work, their service-level risks, callbacks and appointments in the next eight hours (in each firm's time zone), supervisor messages, training, QA feedback, coaching and their own numbers. It shows nothing about firm economics or other workers.