CounselLink Answer Center for Clients

Creating and Managing Matters

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Matters are the foundation for all work performed in LexisNexis® CounselLink®. They can be created for any contract, project, patent, or legal case. Matters help track all records for a particular legal issue, including invoices, documents, budgets, key dates, communications, and other information.

From the Matter Overview page, you can access general matter information, law firm profiles, participant profiles, notes, invoices, documents, tasks, related matters, internal staff profiles, and calendar events.

This article covers the following:

Creating a Matter

You must have the Matter Setup role in order to edit a matter. Additionally, some organizations do not allow users to mannually create them, so you may not see all features described in this article.

  1. Open the Create Matter page by one of the following methods:

    • Click the + Create Matter button in the Matters homepage panel.

    • Click the +Create Matter button in the upper-right-hand corner of the Matter Search page.

    • On the Matter Overview page, click the ( + ) button. Then, click Create New Matter from the list.

  2. The Create Matter page displays.

    Click the icon ()in the upper-right corner of the page to view a video tutorial on how to create a matter.

  3. In the Matter Details section, specify the required information:

    Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required. All other fields are optional.

    Field Details
    Matter ID Enter a unique Matter ID if one does not auto-populate.
    Matter Title Enter the matter name.
    Contact Office Select the office that will manage the matter. Only offices for which you are allowed to create matters are listed. After you select an office, the page may update if that office requires additional information.
    Matter Contact Select the contact who will receive all matter-related communications. This also helps with searching, reporting, and invoice routing.
    Invoice Contact Select the contact who will receive all communications regarding invoices related to the matter.
    Matter Type Select an option from the drop down. Click this topic for more information on managing matter types.
    Relate to Existing Matter Click the blue ellipses to search for a matter to relate the one you are creating. Click this topic for more information on Related Matters.
    Assigning Office Select an office from the drop down list.
    Description Enter a short explanation of the case or other relevant notes.

  4. In the Financials section, enter the appropriate information:

    Field Details
    Matter Currency Select the currency to associate with the matter.
    Historical Billed Fees Enter the billed fees value.
    Historical Billed Expenses Enter the billed expenses value.

  5. Optional: In the Templates section, specify the information as required:

    Depending on your organization's configuration and your role, these options may not be available.

    1. From the Allocation Template list, select an allocation template. 
    2. From the Calendaring Template list, select a calendaring template. 
  6. Click Save. The matter is created. Next, assign law firms to the matter.

Assigning a Law Firm to a Matter

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You can assign one or more law firms to a matter from its Matter Overview page. You can also remove a law firm from a matter. See this topic for more information on removing or canceling a removal of a law firm from a matter.

Law firms on a matter cannot see if other law firms are assigned (except if the Lead Counsel feature is used).

You must have the Matter Assign role to assign law firms to a matter.

  1. Access the Search Law Firms window by one of the following methods:

    • Click the +Assign button in the Law Firms tab of the Matter Overview page.

    • Click Assign Law Firm from the More Actions drop down in the upper-right corner of the Matter Overview page.

    • Click Assign Law Firm once you've selected a matter on the Matter Search page. This option allows you to assign a law firm to multiple matters.

      The Search Law Firms window displays.

  2. Find a law firm by fee structure or by name of the law firm.
    • Search by Fee Structure
      1. Select a fee structure from the drop down menu.

      2. Click Search. The search results display.

        Only law firms with an active fee offer on the selected fee structure are returned in the search.

      3. Optional: Click Show Favorites Only to show firms that your organization has marked as a favorite only.
      4. Click the name of the firm you wish to assign.
    • Search by Firm Name

      1. Enter a search term into the search field.

        If the name of the firm you're looking for appears under the search field, click it and proceed to Step 3.

      2. Click Search. The search results display.

        Law firms that can not be assigned include an explanation of the incompatibility.

      3. Click the name of the firm you wish to assign. The Assign Law Firm to Matter window displays. The top section shows information about the selected matter, including any assigned law firms. An error message displays in the Update Details section if a selected matter can not be assigned to the law firm.

  3. Complete the fields under the Business Terms section as necessary:

    Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required; all other fields are optional. Available fields vary based on your organization’s CounselLink configuration.

    Field  Details
    Fee Structure* Required only if you searched by firm name (not by fee structure). Select a fee structure to use for the law firm. Click Show Details to review the selected fee structure.
    Case Value Select a case value from the drop-down list.
    Number of Parties Select a number of parties value from the drop-down list.
    Volume Discount Select a volume discount value from the drop-down list.
    Lead Attorney

    Select a lead attorney from the drop-down list.

    This may be a required field depending on your organization's configuration.
    Counsel Type Select a counsel type from the drop-down list.
    Invoice Workflow* Select an invoice workflow option from the drop-down list. This determines how your organization will review invoices with the law firm you've selected.
    Rule Set* Select a rule set option from the drop-down list. This selection specifies the set of rules that the law firm's submitted invoices will use on this matter.
    Lead Counsel Place a check mark in this box if the law firm will be the lead counsel.
  4. Optional: Select Bypass Law Firm Email Notifications if you don't want the firm notified that they have been added.
  5. Select one of the following:
    • Assign: Assigns the law firm to the matter.
    • Assign & Add Another: Assigns the firm and returns you to the Search Law Firms window to add another.

Copying a Matter

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When you want to create a new matter with information similar to an existing one, you can copy it to save time. You can copy a matter with any status. The new matter becomes active as soon as it is created.

You must have the Matter Setup role in order to copy a matter.

  1. Access the source matter's Matter Overview page.

  2. Click Copy Matter from the More Actions drop down.

    The Copy Matter page displays. Fields in the Matter Details section are populated with data from the source matter, except Matter Number, Matter Title, and Description.

    If the Additional Information section appears, it contains fields that have been configured specifically for your organization.

  3. Update the matter information as needed. For information on the specific matter fields, see Creating a Matter.

    The status date of the new matter is the date when the matter is copied.

  4. Click Save.

Editing a Matter

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You can edit information for an existing matter (including a closed matter). For example, you may need to update the Matter Contact or Contact Office. Changes update the matter information shown at the top of the Matter Overview page.

You must have the Matter Setup role to edit a matter.

  1. Click the Edit Matter (pencil) icon on the Matter Overview page.

    The Edit Matter page displays.

  2. Update the matter details as needed. For information on the specific matter fields, see Creating a Matter.

    If an Additional Information section appears, it includes matter fields configured specifically for your organization. Contact your Corporate Administrator if you have questions about completing these fields.

    Update the matter information as needed. For information on the specific matter fields, see the Creating a Matter section in this article.

  3. Click Save. The Matter Overview page displays the changes.

Closing a Matter

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

This option is only available if your organization it configured. You must also have a Matter Setup or Matter Change Approval Contact role at the Matter Contact Office. Submit all invoicing before closing a matter.

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

  2. Select Close Matter.

  3. Optional: The Edit Matter Disposition page displays if your matter has custom disposition fields.

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

  4. Fill out the required fields as needed.

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

    Fields marked with * are required.

  6. For the Is there any further billing on this matter?, select Yes.
  7. For the Set matter status to INACTIVE? (Select No to close matter) option, select Yes to close the matter.
  8. Click Save. The Matter Disposition Confirmation page opens and displays a confirmation message.

Deleting a Matter

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You may want to delete a matter if, for example, it is a duplicate. However, you cannot delete a matter that has an invoice or a legal hold attached.

If you delete a matter that has related sub-matters, the sub-matters are not deleted. They are removed from the matter family relationship.

In most cases, it is recommended to close the matter in order to retain any records.

  1. Open the matter's Matter Overview page.

  2. Select Delete Matter from the More Actions drop down.

    The Delete Matter window displays.

  3. Select a Reason for Deletion. If you select Other, enter a reason in the text field.
  4. Click Delete Matter. The matter is deleted.

Viewing a Matter's Change Log

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The change log shows updates made to the matter over time, including which users made the changes.

You must have the Corporate Administrator role to view the change log.

  1. Open the matter's Matter Overview page.

  2. Access the log by one of the following:

    • Click Change Log from the More Actions drop down.

    • Click the Change Log button on the History tab.

    The Change Log window displays.

  3. View the history by using the scroll or search options. You can also use the Group By feature to sort the events.

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

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

Emailing a Matter

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You can email a matter link to one or more users. This is helpful when you create a matter and want to share it with collaborators. Recipients can open the link and save the matter to My Matters in CounselLink.

An emailed matter link is available only to internal CounselLink users in your organization whose assigned offices and roles permit access.

  1. Open the matter's Matter Overview page.

  2. Click Email Matter from the More Actions drop down.

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

  3. Enter one or more email addresses in the To field.
  4. Edit the email body as needed.
  5. Click Send.

Editing Custom Data

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If your organization uses custom fields for law firms, you can edit those fields on the matter.

You must have the Edit Custom Data role in order to perform this action.

  1. Open the matter's Matter Overview page.

  2. Click Edit Custom Data from the More Actions drop down.

    The Edit Active Matter Data Additional Information page displays.

    Options may vary based on your organization’s configuration.

  3. Make any edits as needed.
  4. Click Save.