Matters

The matter is the anchor for intake, decisions, dates, documents and evidence. Its record number and subject identify the instruction. Its owner is the Team Member accountable for follow-through. Status shows whether the firm is screening the work, engaged, active, reviewing it for completion or closed. The agreed fee and engagement reference stay with that same record.

Suppose the firm accepts a filing matter after a clear conflict review. The intake’s decision is completed, the matter becomes Engaged and the Matter Owner takes the next action. Counsel may then verify a due date, assign a deadline owner and attach the relevant court source. Someone reviewing the case later can begin at the matter and follow those connected records rather than reconstructing the history from messages.

• Identity and responsibility. Record number, subject, organization and owner give a stable point of reference for everyone involved.
• Lifecycle. The status separates prospective work from engaged and active work, review and closure.
• Linked action. Intakes, events, deadlines, document records, decisions and receipts connect to the matter.

Define who may create a matter before engagement and who can change its owner. Agree the record-number format and the point at which an engaged matter becomes active. The firm should also decide how it uses jurisdiction and agreed fee so those values can be interpreted consistently across matters. Give the owner a way to confirm the engagement reference before substantive work begins.

Set a closure practice as well. The team should review open dates, document productions and operation exceptions before moving a matter through Review to Closed. A closed status is meaningful only if the underlying completion check has been carried out. The Operations Reviewer can use receipts and the matter timeline to make that check reproducible.

Take an accepted intake and open its matter. Confirm that the owner, fee, counterparty link and engagement reference match the accepted scope. Record a counsel-verified deadline and a dated event, then add a document revision. Ask another team member to use the matter page to locate the intake decision, conflict evidence and latest operation receipt.

Next, simulate a requested correction after the scope is accepted. Keep the original matter record visible, record an independent review decision and attach the successor evidence. The test is whether the owner can explain the present state and the path to it. If an operation is still marked for review, resolve it before reporting the matter as completed.

• Matter board — Open lifecycle states with owner and subject for a daily review.
• My matters — The matters assigned to the current owner.
• Matters for review — Cases awaiting a completion decision.

See matter execution and correction and reconciliation.