Search

CounselLink Answer Center for Law Firms

Managing and Editing Matters

  • Updated

This article covers the following:

Accepting a Matter Assignment

Once your client assigns a matter to your firm, you must accept it before submitting any invoices. Depending on the client’s configuration, some matters require manual acceptance within a specific time frame, while others are automatically accepted.

You can also accept multiple matters at once.

  1. Find a list of unaccepted matters by doing one of the following:

    • Click on the Awaiting Acceptance link in the Matters Panel on the homepage.

    • If you have it configured, click on the Awaiting Acceptance info tile.

  2. Click on a matter name in the Matter Title column. The Matter Overview page opens.
  3. Click Accept.

The assigned matter is accepted and a confirmation message is displayed on the Matter Accept Confirmation page.

Declining a Matter Assignment

Back to top

You may reject a matter for many reasons. A common reason to reject a matter is a conflict of interest. You can decline a matter before or after accepting it.

You can also decline multiple matters at once.

  1. Find a list of unaccepted matters.

    1. Click on the Awaiting Acceptance link in the Matters Panel on the homepage.

    2. If you have it configured, click on the Awaiting Acceptance info tile.

    3. Click on a matter name in the Matter Title column. The Matter Overview page opens.

    4. Click Decline.

The Decline Matter page displays.

Alternatively, you can decline a matter that has already been accepted.

  1. Select one or more matters from the Matters Search page.
  2. Click More Actions.

  3. Select Decline Assignment. The Decline Matter page opens.

    Fields marked with * are required.

  4. In the Reason list, select a reason for declining.
  5. In the Additional details box, type additional details for declining the assignment.

  6. Click Save.

    The assigned matter is declined and a confirmation message is displayed.

Editing a Matter

Back to top

You can edit the Law Firm Matter ID and Lead Attorney for a matter. If an Additional Information section displays on your Matter Overview page, that area contains fields that have been configured specifically by your client to track other matter information. You may be able to edit some of those fields or they may display in read-only format.

You must have either an Admin or Partner role to edit a matter.

  1. Click the Edit Matter (pencil) icon in the upper-right corner of the Matter Overview page.    

    The Edit Matter window displays.

  2. Enter a number into the Law Firm Matter ID if needed.
  3. Select a new Lead Attorney from the drop down list if needed.
  4. Click Save.

Editing the Matter Additional Information

  1. Click the Edit Additional Matter (pencil) icon in the Matter Additional Information area of the Matter Overview page.

  2. Update the fields as needed.

    Your client configures the additional information fields. Some fields are editable while others are read-only.

  3. Click Save Additional Information.

Closing a Matter

Back to top

You can close a mater from the Matter Overview page or close multiple matters from the Matters Search page.

This option is only available if your client has configured it. You must also have a Partner or Admin role in order to perform this action. All invoicing should be submitted prior to closing a matter.

  1. Click the three-dotted icon in the top corner of the Matter Overview page.

  2. Select Close Matter.

    The Edit Matter Disposition page displays.

    The boxes that appear in the Additional Information section are client specific. Contact your Customer Relations Consultant to discuss the configuration of this feature.

  3. Fill out the required fields as necessary.

  4. Click Save & Continue >. The second Edit Matter Disposition page displays.

    Fields marked with * are required.

  5. In the Is there any further billing on this matter?, select Yes.
  6. In the Set matter status to INACTIVE? (Select No to close matter) option, select Yes to close the matter.
  7. Click Save.

The Matter Disposition Confirmation page opens and displays the confirmation message.

Emailing a Matter

Back to top

You can email a link to a matter to another user or users. For example, this may be helpful if you are assigned a matter and want to share it with a user that will be collaborating with you. You can send a link to the matter in an email, where they can then save it to their matters.

This link will only be accessible to internal CounselLink users at your firm.

  1. Click Email Matter from the More Actions drop down on the right side of the Matter Overview page.

    Your default email software will open an email draft containing a link to the matter.

  2. Enter one or more email addresses in the To field.
  3. Make any additional edits to the email body as needed.
  4. Click Send.

The matter has been shared with the user(s) you've entered.

Printing a Single Matter Overview Report

Back to top

You can print an individual matter's details. You can customize the sheet to display as much or as little of the overview page as you'd like.

You can also print an overview report for multiple matters.

  1. Click the printer icon in the upper-right corner of the Matter Overview page.

    The Print Options window displays.

  2. Select or deselect any matter selections that you wish to include or not include.

  3. Click Print. The Matter Overview Report displays.

  4. Click Print. A Print window displays with printing options.
  5. Click Print. The Save As window displays.
  6. Enter a name for the document.
  7. Click Save.

Viewing a Matter's Change Log

Back to top

The change log on a matter allows you to view changes that have been made to it over time and which users have made them.

You must have the Admin role to view the change log.

  1. Click Change Log from the More Actions drop down on the right side of the Matter Overview page.

    You can also select it from the History tab at the bottom of the page.

    The Change Log window displays.

  2. View the history as needed by using the scrolling or search options. You can also use the Group By feature to sort the events.

  3. Optional: Click the Download button to download the change log history as an Excel or PDF.

  4. Your Excel or PDF file is downloaded to your default download folder.