Working With Matters

Applies To

LexWorkplace Starter, Core, Advanced

This article describes how to use Matters in LexWorkplace.

A Primer on Clients + Matters

In LexWorkplace:

• A Matter is a virtual file cabinet that can hold documents, email, notes, and other data for a given case or project.

• A Client is effectively a container for matters to sort, group, and filter matters for a specific client.

Note: For some firms, the notion of a Client and Matter is, effectively, one in the same. If this is the case for your firm, or if your firm never has more than one actual matter/case/project per client, then you can opt to skip using Clients altogether and just create Matters for each client/project.

Introduction to Matters

A Matter in LexWorkplace is, effectively, a virtual file cabinet that can hold 3 types of data:

Accordingly, every Matter in LexWorkplace has a tab for each type of data: Documents, Email, and Notes.

“Documents” is a Misnomer

Every Matter in LexWorkplace has a Documents tab, but don’t let the name fool you: you can store virtually any kind of electronic file to the Documents tab—including images, audio, video, and more.

Creating a Matter

You can create a new Matter by navigating to:

• Left-Navigation > Matters > New Client

• Global (Top) Navigation > New > Matter

If you use Clio Manage for practice management, you can also pull a matter from Clio into LexWorkplace by navigating to: Global (Top) Navigation > New > Matter (from Clio)
Learn more about our Clio Manage Integration.

For each Matter, you can specify:

How to Use Matter Details

The only thing you must specify when creating a new Matter is the name. Beyond that, you can enter as much or as little additional matter information about a matter as you like and as you find useful. Matter properties such as Matter Type, Office/Branch, Matter Tags are primarily useful for sorting, grouping, and filtering specific kinds of matters (e.g. See all Divorce matters in the firm).  

Managing Matters

You can see (and open) Matters in two different places:

• Left-Navigation > Matters: this will show matters for all clients (by default)

  • Here you have four views to show the specific types of Matters you’re looking for (outlined below).

• Left-Navigation > Clients > Specific Client

  • Here you will see a list of Matters for just the selected client.

  • This is also where you can perform a search just across one client. Learn more about Search.

From the Matters List, you can click any of the Views (tabs) at the top of the Matters list to change what Matters you see.  

From the Matters List (shown above), you can also:

• Show or hide any available columns in the Matter List view by clicking the Columns drop-down.

• Sort by any column, including Matter Name, Type, Branch, Open/Close date, and more.

• Filter by any column, Matter Name, Type, Branch, and Assigned Attorney. For instance, you may want to temporarily only see:

  • Matters where Tom Smith is among the Assigned Staff

  • Matters with the Litigation tag applied.

From the Matter List, you can click any Matter to open it, where you’ll see the main Matters screen.

Matter Header

The information that was entered when the Matter was created, including Client Name, Matter Type, Custom Matter ID. and so on, is visible within the Matter screen, in the header section on this page. You can think of this as a kind of “cover page” for this Matter, providing basic matter information.

Tip: Hide the Matter Header

If you don’t wish to see the Matter Header (which takes up vertical screen space), you can click the up chevron icon on the far right of the Matter screen to collapse/hide the Header section.

Data Inside a Matter

As described earlier, a Matter can be thought of as a virtual, dedicated file cabinet for one specific matter, case or project. This virtual file cabinet has three “drawers,” or three tabs, for different kind of data: Documents, Email, and Notes.

Each of the three tabs (Documents, Email, and Notes):

• Is its own top-level folder hierarchy. That is: the Documents tab for a matter is its own top-level file system/folder hierarchy, the Email tab its own top-level file-system, and so on. Said another way, each tab can be though of as a top-level folder, each containing different types of data and:

• Function similarly, insofar as you can create folders, sub-folders, and can see where in a given hierarchy you are via the breadcrumbs, yet:

• Each tab has nuanced functionality relevant for that type of content (documents vs. emails, for instance).

• Note: The Sharing tab does not store data but rather is where users can see and manage the sharing of data with outside parties.

Working With Matter Documents

You can store, organize, and manage documents for a particular client case or project in the associated Matter. The Documents tab of the Matter screen is its own file-system, just for this Matter. Which means, you can create folders and sub-folders to organize documents as you see fit.

Creating New Documents

There are multiple ways you can create new documents to a Matter (or Firm Documents) in LexWorkplace:

• From the top, Global Navigation, click New > Type of Document (DOC, XLS, etc.).

• From within Word, create a new document, then click Add to LexWorkplace in the Microsoft Word (top) ribbon.

Storing / Uploading Documents to LexWorkplace

There are multiple ways you can save/store existing documents to LexWorkplace:

• Drag and drop files from your local computer to any location in LexWorkplace that stores documents/files (a Matter or Firm Documents). You can even drag/drop entire folders, and all folder structure (subfolders) will be retained on upload.

• From the Matters screen, Documents tab > Click the Upload button, then select documents to be uploaded

• From the top Global Navigation, click New > Upload a Document

Opening + Editing Documents

To open a Document in LexWorkplace, simply click the hyperlink of the Document’s name. This will open the document on your local computer, using the application associated with that type of file (Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, and so on).  

Note: Document in Use

If a Document’s name does not have a hyperlink (is not clickable), another user has locked this document, which means either (a) another user has the document open currently, or (b) another user has manually Checked-Out the document. You can open the document when the user has unlocked it. You can also download a copy of the current version of the document.

Once you’ve opened a document from LexWorkplace (such as an MS Word Document), you can view and edit it like normal. As you click save (in the application, such as Word, Excel, or Acrobat), LexWorkplace will automatically save the document (back) to LexWorkplace as a new version. The seamless upload/download of Documents is handled by the LexWorkplace Launcher, which runs in the background on your computer. Learn more: Downloads + Installs.

Managing Documents

From the Documents tab, you can see all folders and documents in the “root” of this Matter. From this screen, or within any folder or location in LexWorkplace, you can use the column headings to filter or sort by any field. This includes all fields in Document Properties, including Document Type, Document Status, Document Tags, and so on.

For example, you may wish to see:

• Only Documents of Type Contract.

• Only Documents in use by name (e.g. Greg Smith).

• Only Documents with a Status of Draft and with the Tag of Filed With Court.

You can also learn about Document Types, Tags, and Statuses.

Searching a Matter

You can also perform a Search in LexWorkplace across an entire matter (but only that matter). There are multiple ways to accomplish this:

• When in the Matter itself, you’ll see that the search box in the Global (top) Navigation reads: Search this Matter. Enter a search query to search only this matter.  You can also search across all matters for a single Client; see: Working with Clients.

• Alternatively, you can go to the LexWorkplace Search screen, enter your search criteria, and specify the Matter(s) you want to search across, in the left-hand sidebar. To learn more about how to use Search and its options, see Search: 101.

Working With Matter Email

You can store, organize, and manage email for a particular client case or project in the associated Matter. The Email tab of the Matter screen is its own file-system, just for this Matter. Which means, you can create folders and sub-folders to organize documents as you see fit.

Email Centralization

A key benefit of saving and managing matter-related email in LexWorkplace, as opposed to simply organizing with folders in your Outlook, is centralization. When an email is saved to a Matter, anyone in your firm that has access to that Matter can see all emails saved, by anyone in your firm, for this matter.  

This helps ensure that everyone in your team is working with the latest information and via deduplication, eliminates duplicative emails.

Saving Email to a Matter

With LexWorkplace for Outlook, you can save email messages from Outlook directly to a Matter (even to a specific subfolder within a Matter), all without leaving Outlook. This is accomplished via the LexWorkplace for Outlook add-in. To do this:

1. Click to select the email you wish to save to a Matter (in Outlook).

2. Click Add to LexWorkplace from the ribbon (top) of your Outlook.

3. Browse to the Matter (and optionally sub-folder) that you’d like to save the email to, and click Save Here.

The email will be saved to the Email tab of that matter (and to the specific location or subfolder you specified). During this process, LexWorkplace will also:

• Immediately index the email for search (so that its contents will appear in search results).

• Deduplicate (that is: warn the user if this exact email has already been saved to this matter by another user).

• Add a label to the email “Saved to LexWorkplace.” This provides a visual cue, in Outlook, that this email has been saved to LexWorkplace.

The process is that simple. A few reminders and notes:

• Remember: The file-system for Email is adjacent to but separate from the file-system for Documents in this matter. Each has their own tab and their own file-system.

• You can also upload a .eml file (an email saved to a file system) to LexWorkplace via drag-and-drop or via the Upload button on the Email tab.

Email Deduplication

Don’t worry: LexWorkplace’s email deduplication will NOT warn or stop you from saving multiple emails with the same name/subject; it uses a sophisticated method (checksum) to determine if one email is an exact duplicate of another.

Opening/Viewing Email

Once in LexWorkplace, you can open any email in the system by clicking the link for the Email name/subject (just like you would a Document). LexWorkplace will open that email in Outlook (for viewing purposes, the email is saved in LexWorkplace, not in Outlook).  

When you open an email, you’re working with the entire, original email, including all content, images, and attachments. From here, you can simply close the Email when done. You can also reply-to and forward the email, just like any other.

Managing Email

From the Email tab, you can see all folders and Email in the “root” of this Matter. From this screen, or within any folder or location in LexWorkplace, you can use the column headings to filter or sort by any field. This includes all fields populated when creating the Matter or when editing Matter information.

For example, you may wish to see:

• Only Emails from or to a specific recipient.

• Only Emails with attachments.

And so on.

Email Short Note

For any email that has been saved to LexWorkplace, you can add a Short Note. The Short Note is an optional text field where you can add a short callout or note about an email. Think of it as a post-it note attached to that email. Short Notes can be very useful when there’s a need to call attention to or “flag” a specific email, particularly if there are many emails in a Matter with the same or similar subject lines.

• You can add or edit an email’s Short Note by clicking the three-dot menu for that particular email, then by clicking Edit Email Short Note.

Working With Matter Notes

Matter Notes are the third type of data that can be stored for a Matter (after Documents and Email). Matter notes are a simple, flexible way to capture information relevant to a Matter. Each Matter Note has two primary fields:  

• Note Name (subject)

• Note Body

Matter Notes, which are plain-text in format, can be used to quickly and easily save key (or miscellaneous) information to a Matter. Matter Notes, like Documents and Email, can be organized into folders and sub-folders.

Here are examples of how some LexWorkplace users use Matter Notes:

• As a call log - Users create a short note to document any client (or other) phone call.

• Legal research - Capture and save relative legal reasearch for this Matter.

• Meeting Notes - Capture and organize all meeting notes related to this Matter.

• Intake Notes - Basic information when intaking a new client.

Managing Permissions

By default, every new Matter is accessible to everyone in your firm (with a LexWorkplace login). You can restrict who can access any given matter by editing the Permissions for that Matter. You can do this in multiple ways:

• From the Matter List, click the Three-Dot Menu > Edit Matter Permissions.

• Or, from within the Matter itself, click Edit > Edit Matter Permissions.

From here, you’ll see the setting: This Matter is Accessible To

This setting defaults to All Users. You can click the drop-down to change this setting to Only Specified Users. When you do this, you’ll be prompted to specify which users and groups should have access to this Matter (note that Firm Admins cannot be removed from the list).

Also note that you can limit who in your firm can create clients and matters.

Learn More + Related

Additional resources on topics related to and used in Matters.

• Working with Clients

• Search: 101